


Shell of God

by Erdaino



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Dragon Ball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Bending (Avatar), Dragon Ball Super - Freeform, Dragon Ball Z - Freeform, Gen, Inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2020-01-07 13:07:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 138,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18411269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erdaino/pseuds/Erdaino
Summary: Long time ago, God of Destruction Beerus imprisoned his fellow God of Creation known as Elder Kai in the Z-Sword. Why would he resort to such drastic measures against one of his peers? Was there something more to his intent than pure pettiness over a hide-and-seek game?Perhaps a lone world full of life, forgotten in the oldest parts of the universe, holds the answer...This story happens 13 years after Age 780 and Bulla's birth. I assume that DBS timeline is over and that everyone survived whatever villains that came in the meanwhile. On Avatar world, the events of the comic 'the Rift' have just concluded. And the two worlds are about to meet.





	1. Broken expectations

Many years have passed since any trouble has befallen upon the universe. Multiple threats have come and gone, being subdued by the might of the Saiyans. The gods have found some respite at long last. And even though the likes of the evil space emperor Freeza were still lurking around, there hardly been any incidents that would require the assistance of either the gods or the powerful Saiyans, Goku and Vegeta.

Each of them in fact have fallen into the loop of their usual routines. Whilst the Saiyans were relentlessly training, the creator gods have focused on their old habits of meditations and planning the new life throughout the universe. Beerus, the god of destruction, maintained his old routine, which involved nearly endless napping intertwined with visiting the Earth for the purpose of cuisine tasting. With years passing, he slowly reverted to longer nap times.

A time one of such trips, and therefore an awakening, was quickly approaching Beerus. The angel Whis, his faithful servant and teacher, was about to follow a classical procedure of waking him up.

He entered Beerus' bedroom hall, anticipating the nearing blasts from the alarm bombs. While a concept of a magical wake-up bomb would sound silly to a mortal, Beerus was quite fond of them, both as an alarm clock substitute as well as for some extra security.

The chamber was comprised of a small balcony, with the door through which Whis has entered the room, as well as a large open space, where the alarm bombs were floating around. They were orbiting a small cup like structure that levitated in the middle of the chamber. The top of this cup was Beerus' bed. The walls were furnished with sound-proof coating, that Beerus requested, due to the noise that their occasional visitors, the Sayians, have been causing.

Whis walked near the balcony edge wall, and spoke to the cup bed:

"Lord Beerus, it's almost your planned wakeup time. Would you perhaps mind to get up a little earlier this time, so we can spare some of these bombs? I admit that we use up quite a lot of them recently."

There was no response. As always, Whis knew that his efforts were futile. Beerus rarely ever woke up to anything lesser than a blast. Yet Whis did not give up on his desire to prevent the bombs from exploding:

"Perhaps a little song will help you to get up?" He summoned a small microphone out of thin air and started singing.

A few seconds after, an explosion happened. It wasn't any of the bombs though, instead the bed itself suddenly was subject to a strong burst of energy.

"Get away from me, you screeching monster!" A voice could be heard from the bed. Whis stopped his singing and looked at the bed with an annoyed frown, but then noticed that his master did not actually wake up yet.

Then, the first bomb has exploded. Beerus stretched on his bed with a huge yawn and proceeded to perform his usual sleepy parkour over the platforms in the chamber (there were a bunch of them there, including spare beds).

"Are you awake yet, Lord Beerus?" Whis asked, taking aim at the bomb that was supposed to explode next. There was a chance that Beerus would simply stop midway down and sleep again, forcing the use of another alarm, but Whis gained some faint hope that it would not be necessary.

"Hfffmfmm pthmfhmmmthm bthhh?" came the answer. Not the clearest one, but Whis understood it anyway. He had already learned Beerus' post sleep muffling language.

"Yes, my lord. The bath is ready and so are the wakeup snacks. You can proceed to whatever you see fit immediately."

"Hmfmfmreee, thank you" The muffling turned into an actual phrase.

Recognising that next alarm won't be necessary, Whis disabled all of them. If Beerus was making any attempts at audible speech after waking up, it usually meant that he will stay awake.

Beerus fell from the last platform to the balcony, landing exactly at the top of his head and remaining in a vertical upside-down position. Afterwards, he lazily opened one eye and muttered: "I will go to the bath first. If you could bring me some of those snacks over there, then I would be much obliged."

"Of course, my lord". With these words, Whis has left the chamber and went for the kitchen.

Beerus got on his feet and walked down the corridor into the bathing chambers. It was actually a small network of cave-like rooms, with a stream of warm water flowing through them, filling a few large basins. Beerus has entered his favourite, the largest one, an elaborate rock composition made from multiple hexagonal blocks. Having positioned himself comfortably near the edge, he waited for the arrival of the snacks. And Whis. In that order.

After a few minutes Whis indeed appeared, carrying or rather levitating a hefty bunch of plates and bowls.

Beerus jumped in excitement, having noticed a few of his favourites. "We still got instant ramen!!? And those octopus balls...". He then looked at Whis with suspicion and asked: "You just had all of that in the fridge? How often you were visiting the Earth recently? And without me?" He tossed in that last one with slight annoyance.

"Quite often, actually." Whis responded. "I have been overseeing the progress of our two new teenage students. They will be arriving to begin their training today, by the way."

"Teenage... training... Ah, yes, I recall that one. Good thing that the soundproof walls have been installed in my bedroom. Wouldn't catch a minute of sleep without it, with some runts running amok. Remind me, why we are even doing this again?" Last word of this sentence were muttered with a slightly irritated tone.

"Well, I do remember you being enthusiastic about the new potential sparring partners. You were afraid of staying behind Goku and Vegeta, as well as about the fact that they are not going to live eternally." Whis said.

"Enthusiastic is a bit of an overstatement. I simply cannot let myself get behind some mortals. I am the God of Destruction after all. And unlike certain fat twerp"- he thought of his brother at this point - "I am not going to be inferior to any lesser creature." Beerus finished, raising his tone a bit near the end of the sentence. His memory was clearing up, as he was becoming gradually more awake.

"Maybe so, but I am inclined to believe that you do enjoy fighting, my Lord" said Whis with a smile. "After all, you are eager to encounter new challenges. And you are particularly fond of these Saiyans in that regard".

"Fighting is alright. Idiots and their children making noise and eating my food is a bit less. Uhhhh... but after all, power does take some effort to appear. Even mine was not that easy to achieve..." Beerus swam away in thoughts for a bit.

"Oh, believe me, I do remember your training just alright. Well, the new students will be here soon. From what I recall, they have mastered a few of the Super Saiyan forms and they have been also reported to possess a significant potential."

"And some actual intent to work on it, unlike Goten, Gohan and Trunks. Which is somewhat promising." Beerus added. "Go ahead, greet them and show them around. I will join you later." He then produced a huge yawn, before continuing: "For now, I am more interested in picking directions for our next trip afterwards."

"I remember that we were going to visit Earth. I would shortly report on our students' accommodation with their parents, as well as grab some extra food." Whis recalled.

"True, but I wanted to go somewhere else for a change. It's been a while since we explored the universe. Who knows, maybe there is some other culinary paradise waiting over there..." Beerus explained with a bit dreamy look at the end.

"Hardly probable, if we just stick to Universe 7, but there is nothing wrong with trying, I guess." Whis' expression suggested that he would rather stick to what he knew instead of experimenting. His overall memory of sentient species and planets throughout the universe did not help his enthusiasm at all.

Just before he finished that thought, his staff appeared in front of him and flashed a few times. It was comprised of a long handle, a circlet and a crystal orb within the circlet. None of these elements was connected to the others in any visible manner. The part that was flashing was the crystal.

"Oh, it seems that our guests are already here. Well, time to go." He stood up. Before he moved out though, Beerus stopped him, saying:

"Oh, by the way, leave me that staff, if you could. I will look after some potential planets to visit."

"Very well, Lord Beerus. Just do not try to reach anything in the staff, you might teleport yourself by accident to the storage space..." Whis was always weary to borrow his staff to his master, due to the latter's clumsiness.

"Hey, I know how it works. Just hand it over here" Slight impatience could be heard in the god's voice.

"Here it is" said Whis, placing the staff in Beerus' raised hand.

"Thank you" with that said, Beerus started his research using the staff's crystal. In the meanwhile, Whis flew out of the temple chambers into the outside grounds and towards the lake, near which their guests have appeared.

As Beerus stared at the orb, multiple images of various planets were appearing and disappearing in the crystal, thanks to the staff's searching and imaging powers. As he expected, they were mostly dead hits, devoid of life of any form, not mentioning food. After a while he concentrated on locating the worlds with life. The staff could adapt to its user's wishes either by thought or verbal command, and it did so this time as well to fulfil the god's desire.

He was disappointed however to only see the planets that he already explored. He chuckled a bit at the view of half planet that he once left over. After a while of searching Beerus almost resigned. He did not really expect to find anything sensible by using the staff. Whis was far better at utilising its scanning powers. However, he always hoped that he could find something interesting before handing it back, if he ever got his hand on it. His servant usually did not put much heart into the search, forcing them to either traverse the cosmos randomly or to revisit some of the old locations.

The play with the staff was also a decent time-killer. Beerus sometimes liked to spice up his eating sessions with some extra activities, especially the ones that did not really require him to use his hands.

He had no idea that his small hope was about to be realised. After a few more familiar hits, he found a planet that looked like the Earth. Initially he got fooled by the striking resemblance and summoned the next one, but then after a few seconds something clicked in his head and made him return to that world's view.

The continents were not matching. Beerus was not a big fan of geography, nor he had that good memory (unless he focused enough) but Earth's overall look was written quite well in his head. It was hard to expect otherwise, after all the visits he paid over there. Thus, the completely different shapes of lands on this new planet greatly confused him.

He then checked that planet's number. The creator gods (Kais) had a naming scheme for them: it was usually comprised of a universal zone number, a code name of particular division in that zone, and then a number of the star and planet combined together. The Earth he was used to had a number 4032-Green-877. Much to his surprise, while the planet's name was still Earth (Kais preferred to use planet's inhabitants' idea if it was possible), its universal zone was marked as 0003. The problem was that anything below zone 0010 marked the earliest worlds ever created by the Kais. Those planets were positioned relatively close in relative time and space to their own homeworld. And yet, despite its apparent age, the planet looked alive, at least from a distance.

Beerus had a slight sense of déjà vu from looking at that particular code.  _Where did I see this number before...?_ He thought. He did not remember anything precise about it, and its look was unfamiliar. The number, both the zone and the follow-up did ring a bell.  _And old, annoying memory,_ he suddenly thought _._ He decided to look at it more precisely with the staff's magic.

The focused scan looked promising. There was indeed sentient life present there: and in the form of humans similar to Earthlings, nonetheless. There seemed to be no one with particularly high power level on this world, but the lowest common denominator was a bit better than that of his Earth.

More Earthling-like beings grabbed Beerus' curiosity, but also some doubt. He did recall some particularly strong annoyance related to this world, but it was beyond him to recall the details.  _It must have been a long time ago_ , he thought.

While he was floating away deeper and deeper into his memories, he stumbled upon an octopus ball filled with wasabi. While normally he would recognise it from the smell and put it away to avoid an explosive sensation, right now he was too deeply focused to notice.

The intense flavour quickly broke his focus away and replaced it with pain. He jumped up high in the air, roared and then breathed fire of high intensity, propelling himself backwards. Indeed, it was enough to fly him out of the temple world into the surrounding space. After smashing into few nearby planets and blowing up one of them completely, he landed in a small lake, the very same that Whis headed towards.

The guests of the temple were already there. When Beerus put his head out of the water, he noticed two teenage girls looking at him with a mixture of curiosity and amusement.

Pan and Bulla, he recalled. The two prodigal children, similar and yet different to their relevant kin, Goten and Trunks, as well as to their mentors, Goku (Pan's grandpa) and Vegeta (Bulla's father).

Each of them reacted to his antics a bit differently. Pan, the more energetic of the two, shouted to him first:

"That was AWESOME! Can you do it again, please?" she was widely smiling, clearly entertained by Beerus' flight show.

The other girl just stood there, smiling faintly and observing him. Her overall expression was that of amusement but also discipline and focus: she apparently decided to withhold any verbal reaction.

Beerus flew out of the lake and moved over to the girls, landing right in front of them.

He taxed both shortly. They had a rather pleasant and peaceful aura, though while Pan seemed to be more innocent, enthusiastic and fun loving, Bulla seemed more reserved, self-absorbed and cautious.

Whis was there too, having greeted them already and observing Beerus alongside them. He was the one to break the ice:

"Please, my lord, welcome our two new guests. You already know who they are, so we might as well show them to their rooms."

Bulla decided to speak up:

"Greetings, Lord Beerus, it is very good to see you in good health. How are you doing today?" she followed that with a bow. Pan was a bit confused to hear such a formal greeting to a person they already knew quite well but decided to follow Bulla's lead and bowed as well.

Beerus nodded in acceptance and responded: "Quite fine, thank you. It is good to see that you developed some decent manners." He stopped for a moment, and then turned to Whis: "I found a new planet that I want to check out. Here you go, have a look."

With these words he gave the staff to Whis and turned back towards the girls. The angel had a short look. His face twisted for a moment into an expression of shocked realisation.

Beerus didn't notice that, as he already was turned away. Bulla however did.  _What did he see over there?..._ She thought. It was clear to her that Whis got visibly disturbed, or perhaps surprised by something. She got curious about it for a moment, but as Beerus looked at both of them, she pretended to not notice anything. Pan in the meanwhile was too focused on the god to pay any attention to Whis.

"Well then, runts, you will be staying here for a while, as we agreed." Beerus started, with a hint of impatience. "I am going away soon for a trip around the galaxy, so... here are some rules for you to follow: you are allowed anywhere within the temple, expect for any chambers that I am currently using. If you want to enter any place that already has me inside, you are supposed to knock, or ask for permission. Or both. "He paused shortly, and then added:" And show some restraint and common sense when bothering me. For instance, you may join me or Whis for dinner whenever you feel like it: I won't mind that. Do not even think about interrupting my sleep though, or I will be most displeased. Are we clear?"

The girls have already heard a similar lecture from their parents. However, they also knew quite well that interrupting Beerus' speech was a bad idea. Therefore, they responded: "Yes, Lord Beerus".

"Great" he said. After a short pause he went on: "You are allowed to do anything you want while you are here, as long as you do not break anything. If you do break something, report it to Whis and have it repaired, preferably before I notice that. Or again, I will be quite displeased. Is that clear?"

Both girls responded again: "Yes, Lord Beerus".

"Remember, first and foremost you are here to train. Whis will tell you what to do. I expect both of you to focus on that, as your talents are the sole reason I allow you to train under him. If your performance is unsatisfactory, I will kick you out."

"Yes, Lord Beerus" girls said yet again. Pan added on top of that: "Don't worry sir, we want to get stronger, for our own sake!"

"Indeed." Bulla joined "My daddy won't beat himself. I intend to get more powerful than him sooner or later."

"That's what I wanted to hear" Beerus' expression slightly cheered up. Then he noticed that something was missing from the picture: "By the way, how did you two get here exactly? I don't see anyone else here..."

"Oh, grandpa Goku teleported us. He already left, he said he had a sparring session with mr Broly." Pan explained.

"Heh, old bastard could have at least waited and said hi, or something." Beerus reacted with small smirk.

"He told us to greet you in his name, Lord Beerus" Bulla said.

"Eh, whatever. So, now you know the rules. Any questions?"

Bulla: "No"

Pan: "Why do you look like a purple cat?" She had completely innocent and curious expression when she asked that.

Pan always liked to satisfy her curiosity whenever she could. She was never able to ask that question beforehand without someone interrupting her or scolding her off.

Everyone present got stumped, even Whis, who was focused on his staff until now. And then Whis and Bulla got a bit nervous. The god was not known for his patience or tolerance, and this was essentially an insensitive question. Beerus, completely flustered, responded with annoyed tone:

"Why do I... What kind of question is that? I was born this way, there is no 'why' here."

"Well, I just got curious. I never saw a race of people like yours. Where did you come from?"

Beerus calmed down a bit, so did Bulla and Whis. Beerus realised that there was no mockery or ill will in her reasoning, while the other two noticed the god's relaxing. Bulla chuckled under her nose at the insensitivity of her friend. Pan was often out of touch with a basic sense of tact, always putting her curiosity first over any manners, and this was one such case.

Beerus in the meanwhile got a bit lost in thought, as if the question has stirred some old memories. He slowly began to speak:

"Well, that it a long story... I do not remember it that well now, it was so long..." He stopped here, and then suddenly regained his focus "Hey, there is no time for that now. When I asked: 'any more questions' I meant about your stay here and the house rules. If you want to ask random stuff, then another time. Right now, me and Whis are leaving."

"Oh, ok. Sure, Lord Beerus. I got no more questions." Pan responded, a bit disappointed, and stayed silent. Bulla gave her a short look that displayed a mixture of condescension and amusement. "What?..." Pan whispered, not realising what it was about. Bulla just chuckled and whispered back: "Later."

"Very well. Whis, are we ready to go?" Beerus ignored that little exchange and turned his attention towards the angel.

"Yes, we are. Mind you, I would still recommend to go to Earth first, as we discussed earlier."

"Yeah, whatever. And then, to our new-found planet. What was its number again?"

"0003-Black-228". Whis afterwards returned his attention to the staff, apparently doing further research on said planet.

Beerus was struck again with that lingering feeling of annoyance, as he heard this code. The sensation was even stronger now, given that the name was spoken aloud.

"Oh, a new planet? Is there anything interesting down there?" Pan yet again could not keep her curiosity on hold. She however realised that she was not supposed to ask more questions (another condescending look from Bulla helped her with this). "Sorry..." She was a bit ashamed this time.

Beerus however was too confused about his murky memory to pay any attention. After a few seconds he registered that Pan have spoken in the first place. He assumed that it was something about accommodation , and therefore said:

"Mhm.... what? Yeah, your rooms are in the western-most tower on the third level. You are free for the rest of the afternoon. Tomorrow morning you will report to Whis to begin your training and he will let you in on everything else that you need to know. We will be back in a few hours, after which I will go to sleep. Are we clear?"

One final "Yes, Lord Beerus." has sounded.

"Very well. You are dismissed." he said, still a bit absent-minded.

The two girls produced a short bow and left in the direction of the garden.

Beerus then moved closer to Whis and asked:

"Are we ready to go? What are you still looking at?"

Whis was uncertain how to respond for a moment. He recognised this planet from the past. He also noticed the slight hint of anger in Beerus when he had heard its codename. He knew what was the deal with it, but he did not want to disclose it to his master unless there was no other choice.

Fortunately, he noticed something that would help him to redirect his master's attention.

"I just noticed that there is a Freeza army ship en route towards this planet. I do not know what it is doing there, but it seems that it will take them at least a couple years to arrive over there."

"Oh, are you sure? I wouldn't want to see this place blown up before I had a chance to check it out. Why are they going so slow anyway?" Beerus had a look at the ship, visible in the staff's crystal. Whis didn't really knew the answer himself, but he quickly formulated a theory:

"Perhaps their interstellar dive is damaged. Or perhaps this is an older vessel with an old interstellar engine." Whis was just happy that his master did not ask more question about the planet itself.

"Whatever, keep an eye on it, just in case. Now, let's go to Earth. All this searching and talking actually made me crave some decent sundae." Beerus changed his expression to a bit dreamy, as usual when he thought about food.

"Sure. Hold on tight." Whis was more than happy to oblige.

With a bright blast, they left the planet. Whis could travel through space with immense speeds, faster than any ship and most creatures. When he did so, it resembled entering an all-white tunnel of light, that led him to his desired destination.

As they flew, Beerus said:

"Hey, now something came to my mind."

Whis got unnerved again. This was not going to be an easy day.

"Do you know how many possible combinations of ice cream are possible to be made? Oh, or what flavours can or cannot be made into one? I wonder if, for example, crab sticks could be turned into an ice cream..."

Whis almost let out a small sigh of relief. Right now, if his master's mind was fixated on food, he was unlikely to think about anything else.

With a calmer voice, he proceeded to explain his knowledge of ice cream.

 

* * *

 

The ship that Whis noticed in his staff was indeed a Freeza army vessel. It was about 13 years old, belonging to the fleet that tried to keep the empire together during the emperor's absence.

It was relatively large, but it contained only two passengers: an older soldier from the same kind as Appule, named Pecha, as well as a member of Cui's race called Pegra. Pecha was a communication officer, while Pegra was a grunt.

Pecha, being disillusioned with the state of the Freeza Forces at the time, decided to desert. When he was stealing the ship to escape on, he was caught red-handed by Pegra. However, Pegra was a complete idiot. Pecha managed to convince him to desert as well by saying that the emperor demanded it. And while initially it was indeed an advantage, with time stupidity of Pegra began to get on his nerves severely. However, he couldn't (and didn't really want to) simply dismiss him or abandon him, due to his higher power level.

When they left, Pecha aimed the ship at a distant planet in an unexplored region of space. Pegra, for some weird reason, decided that it would be a brilliant idea to poke a finger at the picture of said planet: with enough force to break the panel.

Thanks to that, there was no control over the speed of the drive, and they travelled at the default minimal hyperdrive speed. They were in transit for almost a decade now, practically living on that ship. While Pecha would be more or less content with such a life on a ship if it was just himself, his companion made everything way more difficult than it needed to be.

If the hyperdrive control panel was the only thing broken, Pecha would have it repaired in half a year, maybe less. And that included learning how the damned thing worked in the first place. However, before he got any hang on the issue, his 'friend' went on a crusade to mess up every possible system that kept them alive on the ship. Be it air conditioning, food containment, matter manipulator (that was also used for generating food), or electronic locks on doors.

In all those years Pecha indeed became a master ship technician.

This time, he sealed himself off on the bridge. Pegra was nowhere to be found, and there were no alert lights flashing or emergency sounds beeping. This meant all the sweet hyperdrive repair time for the tormented little alien.

It did not last long though. While he was connecting some wires and checking what the output on the screen was, he heard a voice from behind the door:

"Hey, Pecha, can you remind me where we are again?"

Pecha heard that question every bloody day. With exasperated voice, he responded:

"The same as usual: in the middle of nowhere, en route towards a supposedly habitable planet a few years away. Do you have any original questions, for a change? Or will you please let me work in peace?"

Pegra did not seem to catch half of that. "Oh, are we? And what we are doing here?"

"We are hiding from the Galactic patrol, because they whooped Freeza Forces asses, as well as from Freeza Forces, because we deserted from them." Said Pecha, with an even more irritated look on his face. "This is a universal dead zone, nobody ever flies into that sector, as supposedly there were no intelligent lifeforms here. This planet was discovered shortly before we escaped, and I erased all data on it when we did, so nobody can follow us." This story was also repeated every day, multiple times on some.

Short pause. Pecha was not going to speak any further, however he knew that it was not over. "Hey are you there? Pecha, you ok, buddy?" Sounded after like 20 seconds.

"Yes, I am here. Could you go and unscrew the pipes of the cooling system in the storage chamber nr 2?"

"Yes, right away! Pipes, prepare to meet your doom!" With an overly enthusiastic voice and an idiotic spark in his eyes, Pegra went to wage a battle with the unsuspecting pipes.

There was absolutely no point in doing any of that. Pecha had a short list of menial purposeless tasks that he would send Pegra on to keep him away from the important ship systems. And right now, he needed as little Pegra time as possible, for he was approaching a breakthrough.

 

* * *

 

Whis was lying on a beach bed in Bulma's private island resort. During their visit they managed to eat quite a lot of delicious treats, experiment with the weirdest possible tastes of ice cream as well as and observe the two girls that remained in Beerus' temple through the angel's staff. The two mothers of the girls, Videl and Bulma, as well as certain overbearing grandmother, Chi-Chi, were particularly pleased to see that the kids were very careful when moving around in there. After exploring a couple of chambers and putting their stuff away in their rooms (which they found before Whis and Beerus even arrived on Earth), they were now sparring high in the air above the temple grounds.

The whole ordeal was initially conceived to be a holiday distraction between two school years of the girls. Bulla and Pan were the originators of the idea, wanting to graduate from Super Sayian level into the godly territory. However, Whis felt that there would be not much point to train them for only two months and then having them perform no divine training at all for the next 10. Therefore, he intended to advocate an extension to their stay, while allowing them to keep up with their education in some manner.

While Goku and Vegeta, the two girls previous mentors were very excited about letting them train with Whis, mothers and grandmothers present were not so keen on it.

"Absolutely not!" Chi-Chi roared again. "I will not have my granddaughter stay in a magical temple on the other side of the universe and study via radio. Like hell she will. Do you understand how important it is for her to develop proper social interaction skills? Do you think that she can manage to do that in a bloody castle living practically by herself?"

Videl just smiled uncomfortably. She was more inclined to allow Pan to pursue whatever way of life she desired but arguing with Chi-Chi about it was always a pain in the ass, not mentioning that there actually was some point to it. Pan was already socially awkward enough as it was.

Vegeta thought otherwise. In his mind, the girls should train as much as possible. However, there was more to his point than his own love of fighting. The concern that he wanted to raise went as follows:

"You do remember that we are not going to live forever, me and Kakarot? We will need successors to protect the Earth while we are gone. We thought that either Goten, Gohan or Trunks will take the mantle, but neither of them is very interested in it. Trunks wants to take over Capsule Corp, Gohan wants to do research on interstellar travel and Goten insisted on being his assistant. We thought that we will have to push them into it, but then we discovered that Pan and Bulla have much greater interest in fighting than any of them ever did. Don't you think that it is a good idea to get the most out of it?"

"Hey, it's not going to happen any time soon. Like, I get your point" This time Bulma responded. "But seriously, they can safely manage to finish their education, settle down like normal people and THEN train, while you two are still around. There is no need to rush it RIGHT NOW."

Goku, who was also present there, has something to say too:

"Well, I don't know about it, Bulma. By the time they are done with all that stuff, they may lose interest in fighting. Goten and Trunks liked it when they were little, but then they sort of stopped... So it would be better to nurture that passion while it's there!"

"Of course, you would say that..." Chi-Chi was never particularly fond of her husband's obsession with fighting, and even less with pushing it on everyone around him.

"And also, even if we are around, I would still prefer to have someone to help, just in case. Some of those bad guys we fought in the past were really mean. I like to fight alone, but sometimes even us two need help."

"Look, if things get dicey during one of those battles of yours, you can always ask Broly for aid. Or Piccolo. Or Lord Beerus" - Beerus made a humph sound hearing that - "Or literally anyone else! You can't expect two children to..." Chi-Chi wanted to go on another full-scale rant, but she was stopped mid-sentence.

Whis' staff suddenly started flashing a red light. He grabbed it and investigated the crystal, slightly alarmed.

"Oh, my. This is a bit unexpected." He murmured.

"What, what's going on?" Bulma asked, curious. Everyone else moved closer to Whis. Beerus, who was busy eating a sundae during the whole exchange, now moved away from it as well.

"Oh, there is a certain planet that we wanted to visit afterwards. There was a Freeza Force ship approaching it, but we thought that it will still take them a couple years to get there."

Short silence. Beerus broke it.

"And!?"

"They suddenly started moving much faster. Now, it seems that they will be there in an hour or less."

Beerus' face became stern. After another short pause, he said.

"We are leaving. Now!"

"Of course." Whis said, getting up and moving away from the group a bit to initiate his warp ability.

"Wait, is Freeza attacking another world?" Goku asked.

"We do not know, we never interfere with his operations if they do not involve destroying entire planets. But given that Lord Beerus wanted to visit this one, we would prefer to keep his soldiers away from it for the time being." Whis explained. "Apologies everyone, we will finish this discussion another time. See you later!"

"Wait..." Bulma wanted to ask more questions about it but then a great flash of light consumed the two deities, as they disappeared.

 

* * *

 

Far in the cosmos, on the ancient and yet lush and lively world, few teenagers were sitting near a campfire, recalling the adventures that they shared in the near past. They were blissfully unaware of the mysteries and dangers of the universe, as well as of the fact that some of those approached them at an alarming rate.

The group consisted of four people: a bald teenager with arrow tattoos all over his body, clad in the robes that would suit a Tibetan monk, two slightly older siblings, one girl and one boy, both brown haired with a slightly dark complexion and wearing blue clothes, as well as one barefoot dark haired blind girl with beige dress that reached her slightly over her knees.

Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph. They just left the Cranefish Town, having finished their business with the Yangchen festival and the Earthen Fire Industries. They were now planning their next move before departing from the place.

"Ughhh, finally that boring festival is over." Top never failed to find a moment to annoy Aang, or to complain about something she disliked "Well, since that as well as the iron spirit mess is finally over, what are you guys planning to do next?"

"I got a message from Zuko few hours ago. He wanted me to join him and his mother on the way back to the Fire Nation. Apparently, there is some dark spirit issue that he wants my help with." Aang responded. He respectfully ignored the remark about the festival, having accepted Toph's dislike for such things beforehand.

"And in the meanwhile, me and Katara are headed back to the South Pole!" Sokka continued.

"I bet that Gran-Gran is worried about us sick... We should have sent her a message or something" Katara added with a worried look.

"Don't you worry, my sister, I already took care of that. Where do you think I send Hawky after all?" Sokka said with a proud smile on his face.

"I kind of forgot about that hawk. Is he at the South Pole now?" Katara was a bit confused.

"Yup yup, along with greetings, big smiley face, a request to take care of him and all the best news I could remember". Sokka replied with even bigger smile.

"Thank you, mister Schedule. As usual, you have everything in order." Katara said, smiling herself now. "When did you even send him? He never returned to us from delivering the letter to Toph's parents."

Both Toph and Sokka knew the answer to that. The girl spoke first:

"Dad brought the bird with him to this town. When we talked things through, he gave Hawky to me, thinking that he was mine, and I gave him to Sokka"

"Aahh, it was good to see him again" Sokka followed with a dreamy voice. "I hope he does not mind the cold too much."

"Hawky will be fine, Sokka, Gran-Gran will take care of him." Katara was quite sure that her grandmother could be trusted to accomodate a bird.

"And you, Toph? What are you planning to do now?" Aang asked.

"For the time being, we will return to the academy with lily livers. They are still too soft for my liking, I want to give them some extra training. Then, we will see. I am sure you will come to me with some trouble on your butts sooner or later." She grinned at the end.

"Alright then. Let's call Appa and get out of here. Would you like a..." Sokka started to speak to Toph, but something over the horizon grabbed his attention.

"What?" Katara asked, noticing her brother's unease. Then, she diverted her sight to the same point. "Oh no, another meteor?" She remembered the last time they saw something falling from the sky.

"What? Where?" Aang got up and looked at it as well. Toph also got up, saying:

"Well, I won't see it until it hits."

They stared at the flash of light moving through the sky, more or less in their direction.

"Ok, better get out of here. We do not want to be this close to the blast zone." Sokka stated.

As he said that, the light suddenly swerved. It seemed to reduce it's speed and move in a bit different direction. Aang was the first to react to this:

"Guys, since when meteors turn around? Or slow down?"

Sokka, enchanted by this display, suddenly connected some dots in his head and then shouted:

"That is no meteor, it's an ALIEN SPACESHIP!"

"Alien wha...?" Toph wanted to question this weird expression, but then she was stopped by a gasp from both Aang and Katara.

The light weakened, revealing a metal bagel like object with yellow protrusions on all sides as well as multiple oval windows. The interior of the bagel shape was filled with metal as well, making it look like a wide disk from afar.

They stared at it in awe, as it descended. They heard Appa roar a bit in the distance, as he was distraught by this weird contraption.

It slowed down even further and turned yet again, this time moving over their heads. Toph was confused, as a gust of windcould suddenly be felt around them. As she could not see the ship yet with her seismic sense, she did not know how to position herself.

Then, a set of needle-like legs have appeared on the walls. Afterwards, the ship settled down.

Toph finally could see it with her earthbending. She gasped loudly at the sensation.

"It's hollow inside. There is someone in there!" she spoke. After a short pause: "They are really weird."

Aang was visibly disturbed by it. When then ship started to make some whirring and buzzing noises, he said:

"Maybe we should get out of here."

Before anyone could react, the source of the noises made itself known: a hatch opened at the side of the vessel.

The two aliens appeared in the opening. They were looking right at the kids, apparently perfectly aware of their location in advance. Both of them wore weird pieces of armour, as well some glass and metal things attached to their faces. Avatar and his friends could not have known that these were scouters: devices that allowed to track location and strength of nearby life forms.

Sokka whispered to Aang. "You know, I was kind of joking about the spaceship thing. And right now, I think I would prefer if I was wrong."

"What do we do? Run, fight, talk to them?" Toph asked. She was unnerved both by the aliens as well as their ship: a metal contraption unlike any machine she ever saw. Trying to understand anything about how it using the earth sense was already giving her a headache. Even though some of the mechanisms and materials were somewhat understandable (she quickly realised how the ship's legs worked, at least in the mechanical sense), some of them were downright dazzling.

Before anyone arrived at any conclusion, the aliens moved over closer. One of them, a small blue one with a long head, spoke to the kids:

"Hello there. Can I ask you a few questions about this planet?"

This puzzled Team Avatar a bit. Saying that it calmed them down was an overstatement, but they were not as alarmed as before. Aang moved forward a bit and decided to speak up:

"Ummm, sure. What do you wish to know?" He did not think about introducing himself, or following any etiquette, still being confused about the situation.

"Haha, funny little people!" the other, taller alien suddenly exclaimed, with an overly extatic voice. This somewhat woke the team up, and Toph responded, a bit annoyed:

"Who do you call funny, freak?"

"Don't mind him, he is not exactly the sharpest knife in the crayon box. Pegra, shut your face and let me talk."

"Haha!" Another dumb sound. Fortunately, it stopped there for a moment. Pegra remained silent and started to mess around with his scouter. Sokka observed his movements, ready to throw a boomerang at him.

"My name is Pecha, and I arrived on this planet looking for shelter. However, I have to know a few things first. Have you perhaps heard of the Freeza Force?"

Kid's were dumbfounded. The name clicked in Sokka's and Katara's head as a reference to the word 'freeze', but Water Tribe warriors never referred to themselves as 'forces' and they were the only people they knew who would use cold-related references in names.

"Forces what?" Sokka asked, still maintaining focus on Pegra. "Freeze Forces? Who the hell uses such stupid names in an army?"

Pecha chuckled a bit, having just heard an offence to the emperor's name. If the actual Freeza was anywhere around, the poor boy would already be dead. And it was quite clear to him that these people had absolutely no idea that it was even a name.

"That's good to hear. I won't trouble you with details about it. Now to the next question: have you ever heard of the Majin Buu?"

"That sounds even dumber than Frozen Forces" Sokka said. He was completely confused by both questions. "I definitely did not expect that the space aliens would ask me about freezes or boos. Hell, how do we even understand each other anyway?"

"Tell me about it. What are you going to ask about next? Maybe if we ever fought the mysterious Sunshine Warriors?" Toph was also losing her tension.

"That's almost like the Sun Warriors!" Aang noticed.

"Or how about the Flying One Eyed Tentacle Monster of Doom!" Sokka decided to stretch his imagination.

Pecha smiled a bit. In any other situation, the kids' attitude would annoy him, but hearing that they had no contact with any of the universe's major threats filled him with some hope.

"I think I saw something like that last thing once." he said. "But..."

"Hey, Pecha!" Pegra interrupted. Sounding as dumb as usual.

"Uggh, what again, Pegra?"

"Let's conquer these weaklings in the name of Lord Freeza!"

 

* * *

 

Beerus and Whis levitated in the upper atmosphere of the planet, trying to sense what was going on down below.

"There is something off about the people on this world." Beerus said, looking down suspiciously.

"Indeed. It's like this entire planet is filled with very powerful mortal beings, who all suppress their energy. The fact that literally everyone follows this scheme is quite unusual." Whis continued, a bit confused himself. He did not expect to encounter something like this, and it was not looking good.

_Was that how it was supposed to work?_ He asked himself in his mind.

"We have been here for quite a while, and yet we have not felt a single power level change" Beerus said, looking around at various points of the surface. "And I would expect those four" - He pointed towards a specific location on the globe - "to prepare for combat once those two thugs have landed"

Whis was pretty sure that the confrontation with the truth was inevitable. While he would think of some solution to the conundrum, he wanted to stall for time:

"Perhaps let's make a move towards them and observe the situation from up close. Maybe these people will reveal their abilities once in actual danger. I believe that for now there is no battle going on over there."

"Very well. Let's move"

With these words, they descended towards the power sources.

 

* * *

 

"Wait, so it was a name?" Sokka suddenly realised why the Freeza Force was named as such.

"Who do you call weaklings, you idiot?" Toph became angry. Alien or not, the dumbass was dealing some of the strongest fighters of their world.

Katara and Aang did not say anything. They assumed battle stances instead. The alien's words about conquest put them back on high alert.

"Calm down, everybody, we are not conquering anything" Pecha said to the kids, a bit alarmed himself. The problem was that he was much weaker than his comrade. If Pegra suddenly decided to attack, he would not be able to stop him.

On top of that, Pecha knew the difference in powers between the kids and Pegra. His power level lied on about 10000 in the Freeza forces scale. None of his opponent's reached more than 50, and that boy with the boomerang was closer to 30-something. Pecha's own was just about 1000. 

If Pegra wanted, all of those unfortunate teenagers would be dead in an instant.

"Pegra, you idiot, we deserted from the Freeza Force, remember? And the Emperor is dead anyway. Calm down and let me do the talking. I want us to hide somewhere in this world."

There was a long pause. Pegra's brain was trying to calculate something. After a while, his face flashed with a sudden expression of amazement, making him look even dumber than before.

"Then I will be the new Emperor!" He exclaimed loudly.

 

* * *

 

Whis and Beerus focused intently. They were now floating about few hundred meters away from this scene sligthly above the trees and hidden by the bulk of the spaceship, remaining unnoticed. They heard clearly how one of the aliens has proclaimed himself the emperor of this world. This was the moment they were waiting for.

 

* * *

 

Pecha became visibly angry. After tormenting him for 13 years with his stupidity, now this idiot was going to waste their only chance at a peaceful life away from the empire. He moved in front of Pegra and spoke:

"Listen, you moron, we need to hide, not mess around with random kids. Do you want to have Galactic Patrol, the army or someone worse down on our asses? Just shut up and let m..."

He was not given a chance to finish that sentence. A powerful swipe connected with his face, sending him flying a few meters away.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Katara screamed. Pecha appeared sort of sympathetic to them, apparently trying to find shelter from some evil people. Yet this dumbass now attacked him for no reason. She moved towards the injured alien to check on him.

Toph felt that something was off. The motion performed during this attack did not look right. However before she figured out what was giving her that feeling, Pegra spoke again, distracting her:

"Out of the way, scum!" He shouted at Pecha. Obviously, with a longer delay and without noticing Katara. "This world will now give me all of it's goodies!" Then he turned his attention towards the kids:

"Kneel before your new emperor!" He screamed at them.

Everyone on the Team Avatar became very angry. Katara stopped mid way to Pecha, feeling an additional unease. She was now standing at the shortest distance to the hostile alien.

"Get lost, before you get hurt, you idiot." Toph said, assuming an earthbending stance.

Pegra did not pay attention to that. He instead finally noticed Katara being near him, and said the following:

"You there! Lick my boots!"

Katara's expression became completely disgusted. Aang felt a surge of hatred in him, similar to the one that he felt when he found Appa's kidnappers. He was inches away from entering the Avatar state out of rage. He was already mad at Pegra when he hit the smaller alien, but this was too much.

"What did you just say?" his voice almost brimmed with a familiar echo.

In the meanwhile, Pecha regained consciousness. He saw all of the kids looking at Pegra with hatred. He moved slightly out of everyone's way.

"Run, everyone, he is too dangerous!" He decided to shout. However, his words fell on deaf ears.

"Over my dead body, you freak!" Katara finally voiced her disgust at Pegra's derogatory order. She did hear Pecha, but she did not understand how that dumbass could have any chance with any of them, let alone the entire group. He was more or less of human posture, without any visible weapons.

This resistance of hers awakened something in Pegra. For now, he appeared completely idiotic to everyone, voicing random bullshit and not responding to half of what was said to him. But, after hearing an open challenge, all of this dumbness dissipated. What was left there was a monster, excited with aggression.

The real reason why such an idiot was even allowed to be in the Freeza Force has just surfaced.

Everyone on the Team Avatar noticed this shift of tone. If it was not apparent from his expression, it was from his voice.

"As you wish, little girl." A cold hiss.

Out of all the kids, only Toph's senses were acute enough to track what happened.

A shock wave was the first thing that Aang and Sokka felt. They managed to notice that where Katara stood, now there was Pegra, with his fist in the air.

There was a rock behind Aang and the others. They sensed the second shock wave.

Katara's body hit the rock with great force. There was blood on her hair and in her mouth.

Toph could sense that all of Katara's ribs were broken. She did not even want to guess what the internal damage was like.

Aang managed to turn his head. Katara, by some miracle, was still conscious. Her expression shifted to that of pain and terror. She tried to say something, but only a bloody gurgle came out. Her eyes became glassy. She tried to move her hand, it jerked and twitched instead.

Blood became visible through the clothes on her chest. She then fell to the ground, like a ragdoll.

"KATARA!!!" Sokka's scream could be heard from a large distance.

Toph just stood there, horrified. She had the most battle experience out of all kids, and what she just sensed out was incomprehensible.

Sokka bolted towards his sister. He lifted her up and felt her blood on his hands. He was in complete disbelief, terror slowly creeping up on his face.

Aang stared at Katara for a moment. Blood was rushing in his ears. Everything else fell to ringing silence.

He then turned towards the alien. His eyes and tattoos were already glowing.

He felt as if the Sozin's comet has exploded within him.

A jet of flame roared, engulfing Pegra, the ship and the substantial part of the forest behind it.

 

* * *

 

The fire was not strong enough to seriously damage the ship but is successfully encouraged Pecha to jump far away.

When he did, he noticed the two silent observers in the distance. He checked his scouter quickly, and then flew far away, in terror.

There was no reading or even any signals of their presence. He knew what that meant.

These two were gods.

 

* * *

 

Flames slowly subsided. Aang teared up, his rage being slowly replaced by fear. He wanted to move over towards Katara, but he was too afraid to look at her.

And yet, she probably needed him right there and now.

Before he managed to make the first step, he heard a voice.

"Nice fireworks, boy!"

Pegra was still there, staring at him with a violent spark in his eyes. Apparently completely unfazed by the flames. Toph was still in the same place, unable to speak. It looked as she was about to scream in horror.

Aang, already out of the Avatar State, wanted to join her.

"Now, here is your reward!"

His body jerked again. Toph really wanted to pull herself together and scream a warning to Aang, but she knew it would be over before she opened her mouth.

She tried, anyway. And when she did open it, it just remained silent.

His second attack was just as incomprehensible as the first one, and yet it was stopped. Between Aang and Pegra there stood a purple cat-like person. This being have just stopped the alien's punch by catching his fist.

Now Toph realised what she felt when Pegra attacked Pecha for the first time. It happened again when Katara was struck, again when Aang was about to be attacked. And then again right now, when this cat appeared out of nowhere to block said punch.

There was no effort in any of these moves. Not the slightest sign of strain. All of them appeared as light as swatting a fly to the muscles that performed them, despite the unreal force they carried.

She had no chance to become horrified by this realisation, as another terror has replaced it immediately.

The cat spoke. His voice was a mixture of annoyance and indifference.

"You annoy me."

Pegra had no time to process this. Sudden appearance of this cat guy threw him off so much, that his familiar dumbness returned to him. Before he did anything, another sound has filled the air:

"Hakai"

Pegra's body began to disintegrate. When he realised that is existence is ending, what was left of his brain prompted him to scream loudly. Even as he lost his throat, it still echoed, as if the dying soul itself was still screaming. Soon there was nothing left.

Sokka was too busy staring at this new occurrence to notice that Katara have moved. He looked at her and saw that all of her injuries were completely healed. She edged a bit closer to him and hugged him. She was trembling in shock and fear.

Right next to them there was a pale blue man of incredible height, holding a weird staff.

There was a pause.

"I have some questions for you."

Beerus was now looking at Aang.

 


	2. Eyes wide open

Katara, despite what her outer appearance suggested, did not lose her reasoning while she was lying wounded on the ground. She was on the edge of panic and mental breakdown, but still managed to process all information available.

She understood that she was fatally wounded in a single blow that she could not see coming at all. In one moment, she was standing in front of the enemy, in the other she was stuck to a rock, feeling incomprehensible pain throughout her entire torso. Her instinctive attempt to move again only resulted with her falling to the ground.

She did immediately realise that this alien was likely to kill all her friends, just as it had killed her. She wanted to scream “Run!” to everyone else, but her lungs were crushed, and her throat was full of blood.

She saw Aang's attack, and the unfazed Pegra afterwards. The overwhelming feeling that Aang was likely to follow her to oblivion next echoed in her stronger and stronger. Her mind, or what was left of it, was falling into a state of despair.

She did not manage to panic completely though. Aang was suddenly protected by this weird purple cat guy appearing out of nowhere. He stopped the attack that she couldn't even see. With no effort at all on top of that.

And then he erased the alien with a word. Hakai. It echoed through her head, sounding so weird, so foreign.

She suddenly recalled that she was supposed to surrender to absolute terror. After all, she was still dying, her body still hurting and her life still fading. The death of her friends was still there, it just changed appearances.

And then, everything stopped. Death did not come, pain dissipated, and the purple cat wanted to ask some questions, rather than kill them all.

She did realise that she was healed. And that she was still shaking from the shock. Her mind was completely hollow, not knowing how to react at all, as if something has forced all emotion out of it.

In the end, she had the second best picture of the situation, right after Toph.

 

* * *

 

Beerus waited for his answer, but it did not come. Such a long pause irritated him a bit. Everyone present just stared at him, and only Whises' gaze was not full of shock and confusion.

“Hey, did anyone hear me? Can't you people talk?” He asked.

He was too used to deal with the folk that knew him well and already were aware of his power in one way or the other. He therefore did not understand what their problem was. However, before he managed to come to any conclusion, the boy with the boomerang suddenly regained his speech.

“Yy… yeah, sure. I can answer some questions! I definitely can! How may I help you?” Beerus felt as if the boy tried to sound happy and failed miserably, jerking his voice as if he was about to cry.

The bald kid somewhat woke up. He moved swiftly towards that Katara girl (it was the only name that Beerus heard spoken aloud) and hugged her, allowing the boomerang guy to move away from her and speak with Beerus directly. Under the bald boy’s touch, Katara appeared to tremble a little less.

“Are you okay?” He asked silently. She just nodded mechanically.

Beerus decided to focus back on the kid that spoke to him: “Finally some response. Then: Do you perhaps know where I can find the best cuisine of this world?”

 

* * *

 

This simplistic wish felt so surreal to Sokka, that it almost entirely dragged him out of the shock and fear he was in, turning him completely baffled instead.

Right after they were threatened with death from the unstoppable aliens, they were now asked to find the best restaurant in the world by a purple cat. It took him a good few seconds to produce a response:

“Ummm... Yeah, I know! We could go to the South Pole, to our village! We will find good food there!” Sokka regained some of his composure. Some hint of a smile appeared on his face, albeit weak. "We have the best kitchen in the whole world!" He added, feeling a bit more enthusiastic at the memory of it.

“No offence, Sokka, but calling your kitchen 'the best in the world' is stretching it. A lot. If we talk the best, we should go to Ba Sing Se or the Fire Nation Palace.” Toph suddenly spoke. Her expression was mostly stern, but her eyes flickered with some returning humour.

“Yeah, the Fire Nation palace, whatever that is, sounds more inviting than a village on the South Pole.” Cat commented. “Let's go there, if you have no other ideas.”

“Hey, since when the Fire Nation food is better than ours, Toph?” Sokka became annoyed. He almost managed to forget what they were dealing with.

“Literally anything is better than it, Sokka. Including rocks and garbage dump contents.” Toph responded, with some faint amusement in her voice.

“Hey, how dare you offend our traditional kitchen like this! Katara, did you he...”

“Could you stop that bickering now? It's irritating!” The cat interrupted them.

Sokka recognised the tone from before. The cat man sounded like this when he was about to disintegrate the Pegra alien. Sokka looked directly in his eyes and felt a sudden need to soil his pants. He saw Toph flinching a bit.

 

* * *

 

The funny thing was, that Beerus did not intend to display any strong malice. His feelings, both when he spoke to Pegra and when he broke into the kids’ discussion, were bordering on mild irritation. He did not realise before how scary he was to them.

Right until now. This was the conclusion that he was missing. The two kids that somewhat managed to regain the ability to speak now suddenly froze again. He also noticed how that the girl that Whis healed, Katara, have been staring at him. Her gaze was hollow, there was no emotion written on her face. This weird empty glare disturbed the god a bit, stopping him from continuing his little rant. Katara's and Beeruses' eyes even met for a moment but when it happened, her gaze quickly moved to the ground. Beerus was not sure how to react to all of this or even what he felt about it. Instead of figuring it out, he chose instead to speak:

“Anyway, just point us in the direction of that palace, and we will go there right now. My other question will wait until we get there, I am starving.” His tone has shifted to a bit more impatient than annoyed, as he tried to supress his emotions.

 

* * *

 

Aang, as he was holding Katara and listening to the three speak, managed to recollect himself and calm down his fear. While there still was a lot to be scared of, there was also some faint hope.

Both before and now, they were dealing with creatures way beyond their understanding. First an alien that could kill them in an instant, moving faster that Aang could even see. And then, these two appeared out of nowhere and wiped him out in a terrifying manner.

And yet, they were not hostile. One of them just healed Katara out of his own volition and the other asked to be served some food. While the ruthlessness of that cat person was worrying, Aang was willing to at least try to communicate with him.

He stood up from Katara's side and lent her a hand. He wanted to ask her whether she could stand yet, but she just grabbed him and lifted herself up. She was still a bit shaky, but apparently at full strength. She kept holding his hand and staring to the ground as she stood up.

Aang wanted to focus more of his attention on her, but he was afraid of stalling the mysterious strangers, especially after seeing the cat man's irritation at the delays. He therefore summoned as formal of a voice as he could muster and spoke to them:

“Noble spirits, thank you for coming to our aid and thank you for healing Katara's wounds. We apologise for our lack of manners, we were greatly confused and scared about this whole situation. My name is Aang, and these are my friends, Sokka and Toph. Katara, whom I already mentioned, is my girlfriend.” He pointed at each respective person “We will be happy to take you over to the Fire Nation capital or to the great city of Ba Sing Se to show you around some of the best food of our world.”

Afterwards, she produced a small bow, putting one of his arms on his chest, while still holding Katara with the other.

Both strangers looked rather pleased by this introduction. This, as well as Aang's peaceful demeanour lifted everyone's spirits up. Toph and Sokka both stopped looking scared (turning serious and focused instead), and followed Aang up with their own bows, quickly catching on to his idea. Even Katara regained some colours. She looked worried and sad, but nonetheless back in reality. She acted up on everyone's example and bowed as well.

This time, the pale blue man decided to speak. He almost startled Aang by his sudden movement and voice, but he nonetheless appeared friendly.

“It's a pleasure to meet you, everyone. My name is Whis and this here is Lord Beerus.”

“And for the record, we are not spirits.” Beerus himself spoke, now smiling gently himself “We are travellers from a distant world.”

“Wait, so you guys are aliens too?” Sokka asked.

 “In a manner of speaking, yes. We can travel through the stars without a spaceship though. We saw those two thugs landing over here and decided to follow them. You see, they had a bit of a bad reputation.”

“We noticed.” Toph and Sokka spoke in unison, making Beerus smile a bit more. They paused for a bit, apparently chewing over this information. Then Sokka asked: “Speaking of two, where is that other one?”

Whis waved his hand, summoning a weird staff out of thin air. Aang, Sokka, and Katara looked at it in awe, as it hovered next to him. An image of Pecha formed in the staff's crystal. He was surrounded by a few people from their world.

Toph lagged on behind them. Aang realised that she would not be able to see either the staff, nor the image.

“What is it?” she asked.

“A magical staff, Toph! It just showed the image of that second alien!” Sokka looked excited. “Move closer and... Oh”

“Yes, that.” Toph said with a smirk. “Just describe what you see on it.”

Whis looked at Toph briefly, raising his eyebrows. Then, the realisation hit him, and he spoke:

“Oh, my apologies. I did not notice that you are blind, Miss Toph. Here, allow me...”

He moved his staff towards her head, making the image disappear, and gently poked her between the eyes.

 

* * *

 

Toph was suddenly struck with an incomprehensible sensation. For a short while all of her senses were thrown into a complete chaos.

“Hey, what did you just...” She tried to speak.

She did not even notice herself falling down on the ground. The darkness to which she was used to suddenly turned into a blaze of colours, flashes and twirls. The part of her mind responsible for processing the vibrations of the earth into shapes, spaces and distances suddenly was flooded with new information that made absolutely no sense at all. She felt dizzy as the result of those mixed signals.

And then she closed her eyes. Suddenly, everything was back. She was sitting flat on her butt, Katara kneeled next to her saying something. Dizziness left.

“Are you okay? Toph?” Katara asked her again, sounding worried.

“Emm, why did you poke her on the forehead? And why did she fall down?” Sokka asked, sounding confused.

Whis responded:

“I just cured her eyesight. Mind you, I usually take the potential drawbacks into consideration when doing so, such as shape and distance recognition problems. She should not have experienced any side effects...”

Whises' voice sounded puzzled.

Toph listened to his explanation carefully, holding down her disbelief and trying to focus.

“Shape... and distance?” She asked softly, thinking about what just happened.

“Indeed. People born with their sight rely on it to recognise them. People born without it rely on the other senses to do so, therefore never properly developing the ability to recognise shapes and depth from what they see, even if they do recover their sight at some point. Mind you, I did restore a person's vision a bunch of times before and I have always paid attention to that, but...”

“Oh, now it makes sense!” Toph interrupted him with her own revelation.

Sokka, a bit absent-mindedly, asked: “What makes sense?”

“I always used my feet to see. But if my eyes now see too, they will mix up. That's why I was dizzy.”

Now it was Beeruses' turn to sound confused. “See with your feet?” He moved over to look at them. “You don't have any eyes on your feet, what are you talking about?”

Aang started laughing at that remark, shortly joined by Sokka and Toph. Even Katara chuckled a bit. Toph proceeded to explain, after she calmed down a little:

“I can sense vibrations of the earth with my feet. I use these vibrations to tell where everything is. But when my eyes tried to do the same thing, I got confused.”

She had her eyes closed shut all that time. She tried opening them again, and then spoke:

“Nope, everything is still wacky. Ah, whatever, I will figure this out later.”

“Hey, I have an idea!” She heard Sokka speak, before she shut her eyes down again.

This suddenly made something click in her head. She turned towards him. Everything went dizzy again, but the sound of his voice allowed her to connect the seismic shape to the visual one. It still made no bloody sense where it was or in what direction it was moving, but she could tell that this particular blob of... something was Sokka.

Now, having focused on it, she could think more clearly about what she actually saw. She thought of multiple words that people with sight used to describe things. Light, and dark, colours, shades... She would not be able to tell which colour was which at this point, but she quickly understood what was light and what was dark.

And then Sokka lifted her up in the air, blinding her seismic sense, and everything changed again.

Suddenly everything was somewhere and had shape and depth as well as shades and colours. She looked around with a mixture of awe and understanding, trying to comprehend what she saw. Some of those shapes around her were familiar. She could slowly tell apart her friends and the two strangers. And then she looked at Sokka.

She was amazed to see so many new details of his face. She even begun to recognise some of the features. Eyes, nose, brows, mouth: she could see them before to an extent with her seismic sense, but their visual version still felt new. As the whole picture has formed however, she begun to laugh.

“You look so stupid, Sokka!” she said and then laughed again.

His face now twisted into a new shape, that Toph concluded to be a sign of irritation. “Okay, back on the ground you go.” Sokka announced with a voice matching his expression and put Toph back on her feet in a bit rapid motion.

Familiar dizziness returned. However, this time around Toph did not fall down but merely wobbled, trying to make everything stop moving. Katara walked back over to help her stand, while looking at Sokka. Toph focused her sight at her. More mental connections formed between her two senses. The shape of Katara from the seismic one and the relevant visual shape found each other, just like they did with Sokka before.

"Sokka, don't be a jerk! Toph, how are you feeling now?" Katara's voice shifted from annoyance to worry.

Shortly after hearing that, Toph realised something else. Since now there was correlation between two objects in the space surrounding her, the overall feeling made much more sense. As she looked around or moved her eyes, everything was getting messy, but the moment she focused on something, it was clicking in.

Still, the sensations were a little bit too much for her to move around. She therefore responded:

“It's getting better, but I doubt I can walk yet. Sokka, can you carry me around a little bit more?”

Sokka used his trademark sarcastic voice. “Apologies, but the stupid looking guy's feelings have been hurt, just walk around with your eyes closed.”

Katara looked at him again. Toph assumed that it was not a friendly gaze. “Sokka! Toph needs to get used to her sight, stop being dumb!”

Toph laughed again, and said: “Okay, okay, you are the cutest guy in the world. Happy?”

Sokka did not respond, as he lifted Toph up again. From what she could tell, he still kept the expression of irritation, maybe a bit more exaggerated.

Toph looked around, becoming amazed again at everything what she saw. She taxed everyone shortly, now being able to focus on more details than before and concluded: “Now I realise something: all of you look stupid!”

 

* * *

 

After being mildly bemused at Toph's remarks, Aang suddenly had a brain flash.

“Hey, we forgot about that Pecha alien. Mr Whis, can you show him to us yet again?”

Whis appeared lost in thought, observing Toph with a mixture of worry and vigilance in his eyes. Aang's words woke him up.

“Oh indeed, let us have a look.” He moved his staff to a vertical position and displayed the image of Pecha.

“Oh, this is really weird!” Toph exclaimed.

Aang focused on the image. It showed the alien sitting near a campfire, accompanied by a few familiar faces.

“Chong and Lilly!” Katara said, smiling. Her previous depressed mood appeared to be almost completely gone.

Aang also recognised the travelling singer and his wife. They were a few other nomads with them, some of which were known to him and some not. Pecha sat alongside them, as if he was their companion, apparently chatting with the nomads. He wore a bunch of flower necklaces, one of which was placed on his elongated head.

“Hah, you guys are all beaten, now he is the dumbest thing I ever saw!” Toph suddenly spoke with an amused voice. “His head reminds me of something, but I can't put my finger on it...”

“A banana?” Sokka mentioned.

“Exactly!” Toph started laughing again.

“Well, he does not appear to be looking for trouble now.” Beerus said, moving away from the crystal. “If he does, I will get rid of him.”

Everyone got a little bit alarmed, worried frowns returning to their faces. Toph’s laugh has been cut short. Aang did not like the way Beerus spoke, the tone reminding him too much of that moment when Pegra was erased.

“Lord Beerus” he said slowly “Pecha was not evil like his companion. He arrived on our world to seek shelter. I do not think there will be a need to...”

Beerus looked at him. Aang could now see that expression, mixture of indifference and annoyance, all too familiar to him. However, when their eyes met, Beeruses' look suddenly softened.

“Relax, kid, I only meant 'if he looks for trouble'. I see no reason to chase him around right now.”  He then turned his head away, looking at the sky. “I would rather prefer to get a move on to that Fire Nation capital. How do we get there, by the way?”

Aang relaxed a bit and said: “We will go on Appa, my flying bison.” With that said, he pulled out his bison whistle and used it.

After a few seconds, a roar could be heard. Appa was a bit further away than Aang expected him to be. _Probably moved away when the ship arrived..._ Aang thought. Then something occurred to him: “The ship! What will we do about it?” He threw this question to everyone. After all, the ship was still there a few dozen meter's away, hatch still open.

Toph looked at it with her eyes wide open, as if she forgot it was there. Katara also glanced at it.

Sokka responded quickly, as if he already thought about this. “We will tell Toph's father about it. The Earthen Fire Industries' workers will secure it and take a close look inside.” Then he turned his attention to Beerus. “We will take a small detour to a village nearby, is that alright, Lord Beerus?”

“Yeah, sure. Do as you like.” Beerus responded, disinterested in the issue of the ship.

Another, much closer roar could be heard and Appa appeared from behind the trees' tips. He landed in front of the group, looking at the two newcomers suspiciously.

Whis looked back at the bison, smiling. “Oh, what a majestic creature that is.” Awe could be heard in his voice. “Tell me, how much time will our flight take?”

“Well, Fire Nation is located on an archipelago west from here. It will be like two days to reach it, and then an extra half day to get to the capital.” Sokka quickly calculated.

“Two days!?!” Beerus looked deeply surprised by that figure, his eyes wide open.

Whis got lost in thought for a second, and then smiled widely and pointed his finger upwards, clearly catching onto some idea. He then spoke:

“Worry not, everyone, I know how to get all of us there faster.”

He moved over to the bison and murmured something in his ear. Appa let out a small gruff in response, as if he understood Whis.

“All set, everyone on board! First stop: the nearby village, as requested.” Whis announced.

Everyone moved over and started climbing up onto the saddle on Appa's back. Toph suddenly got off Sokka's arms. She wobbled a bit after landing, but otherwise maintained a vertical position, holding onto Appa's hair.

“Hey, let me try climbing by myself!” She said enthusiastically, as Sokka tried to aid her.

Beerus in the meanwhile just jumped up and landed on the large saddle mounted on Appa’s back. Whis followed him up, landing near the bison's neck.

Toph tried to get onto the animal as well. When her feet disconnected from the ground, the wobbliness subsided.

“Hey, look, it's working!” And she looked up. She almost fell to the ground again, apparently losing her balance.

Before she could fall, a strong hand grabbed her. Beerus lifted her up and helped her position on the saddle.

“There you go, girl.” He said.

“Thank you. Wow, you are quite strong!” She said.

“Indeed. Now, let's go!”

He looked at Whis. Aang moved over to Appa's head, as usual, to take the bridle.

“Yip yip!” With this command, Appa lifted off.

Whis touched Appa's skin through the fur. Suddenly, a white intangible light appeared around the bison, making him look as if he was surrounded by flames. The kids were exclaiming oohs and aahs in awe again, especially Toph. Before they commented on this weird phenomenon, Appa turned towards Cranefish town. The reason behind the appearance of this weird white fire became clear to everyone when they suddenly jumped forward with incredible speed.

Aang manged to get out a single scream, before they arrived at the entrance of the factory.

 

* * *

 

Beerus felt extremely bored when Sokka was explaining the situation with the ship. He spoke to an elderly man with catfish mustache, named Lao. Beerus tried to wait patiently for the finish, knowing that the next stop would be the dinner at the Fire Nation capital. However, his irritation was still building up.

He did make some effort to hide it though, as apparently any signal of his negative feelings was causing the kids to suddenly look scared. It annoyed him a lot when they did that, but it also felt disturbing.

Beerus did not have much contact with any strangers for the past 12 years. He also got used to dealing with people who knew him and treated him a friend. He was practically an uncle to both Bulla and Pan, even babysitting both of them a bunch of times and showing them some tricks with Chi. Bulla's formal greeting after their arrival on his planet was not a sign of reverence but was rather meant to either impress him or to make Pan look like an idiot. Probably both, given how the two girls functioned together.

However, right now, completely new people were in front of him. It was apparent that they never faced anything like him and his antics. Everything that he did during his stay on this new Earth wouldn't even cause a raise of an eyebrow of either Goku or Vegeta. Most of the Earthlings he was regularly dealing with would not care either at this point. Yet these kids, while looking friendly and light-hearted when speaking to each other, were weirdly formal and stiff when talking to him.

That Katara girl, the one wounded by the idiot alien, was particularly moody. While she recovered from the shock of the attack, she was still either enraged or terrified inside. Every single one of the looks she gave him so far had hints of menace and fear. She did not speak to him directly at all, unlike all other kids at this point.

This attitude riled Beerus up. On top of that, the mystery of this world remained unsolved. Beerus could not connect his anger at this world to anything that he saw on it so far. The locals, the landscape, the biosphere or the surrounding space: nothing familiar about them. Beerus felt as if he had never laid foot on this planet to begin with.

And yet, the planet's number remained a constant irritant.  0003-Black-228. Whenever he thought of it, he felt something surge inside of him. The weird power that local people supposedly wielded yet no one appeared to be aware of was also a bit annoying.

 

It made no sense at all for such a power to exist. And yet, it was probably the answer to his problem with this place. It was the only thing that felt 'odd' at this otherwise peaceful-looking world.

His trail of thought was broken by the voice of the recently-gifted-with-vision Toph. The man they were dealing with turned out to be her father and now he has noticed her changed eyes.

“Wait, Toph, what the in the blazing has happened to your eyes? Why did they change colour...” This revelation visibly baffled him. Toph just laughed shortly and then responded:

“Surprise! I can see now, dad! This man here has healed my eyes! I can't believe it myself, everything looks so weird now!” She paused for a moment, and then added “That moustache makes you look like a tiger catfish!”

The kids chuckled a bit, while the man got completely shocked, as well as flustered. Before he reacted to that remark, Sokka spoke up.

“Anyway, you will put guards around the ship and take some drawings of the interior, right? Also: make sure that nobody touches literally anything. Well, except for the floor with their feet and stuff, but you know what I mean! ” He paused here. ” We do not know what we are dealing with. I will try to get that alien to provide some explanations, but it may take a while before I find him. Hey? Mr Lao!” Sokka had to raise his tone near the end, as the older man appeared to be still in a shock.

“Yes, yes, we will be careful. I really can't believe it at this point. Spirits attack, my daughter regains sight, aliens land and leave their spaceship behind. How many things are still going to happen today?”

“Tell me about it, we just had a hyper-flight on Appa. And we are getting another one, like right now. And it seems like Appa himself cares the least. Anyway, speak to you later! Take care of my new ship!”

“Take care dad, I will literally see you later!” Toph put a big emphasis on the word 'literally' and laughed again looking around wildly and wobbling a bit every now and again. Katara was sitting near. Beerus guessed that she was watching out for any signs of Toph’s sight induced dizziness.

Lao did not even manage to speak again before they flew up.

Soon they lost the sight of him. Appa turned in the air and took aim to the west. Before Whises' aura has appeared, Aang hid Momo in his robes. Beerus was introduced to that little animal as it freaked out during their first empowered flight. He figured that it made sense for Aang to cover it.

Soon, an intense blaze of light consumed the bison and everyone on it, and his speed has increased dramatically. Travel that would take them a few days was now likely to last a few minutes.

 

* * *

 

The flight was relatively pleasant to everyone. The white light apparently shielded the group from the wind that should otherwise blow everyone off Appa's back.

Sokka spend most of the journey explaining each and every new thing that Toph saw during their flight. She particularly liked finding connections between the clouds and the shapes she memorised via her seismic sense. While she was slowly getting used to sight, she was still subject to some visual confusion, like thinking that the world around her was revolving when moving her eyes.

There was little talk between the Team Avatar and the mysterious strangers. Whis focused his attention on touching Appa and murmuring something under his nose, as well as discussing the details of their flight with Aang. Beerus did not speak at all. He instead stared at the sky mindlessly as if he was thinking really hard about something. There were still plenty of questions that plagued Sokka's (and probably everyone else's) minds, but he still did not feel very secure when talking to the cat man and his friend. He had a clear feeling of inferiority and insecurity whenever he looked at either of them.

Toph stole the most of everyone's attention anyway. At some point, she suddenly turned to Whis and asked: “Hey, can we slow down once we get near the Fire Nation? I want to have a good look at the land below!”

“I would rather maintain our speed until we are near the city itself.” Whis responded. “We do not want to keep Lord Beerus waiting, do we?”

Toph's enthusiasm slightly diminished: “Yeah, we don't, I guess.”

Sokka's mind suddenly focused on a certain detail: Lord. It was obvious to him that those two were of some higher sort, especially Beerus. They on top of that could pull off incredible things, like erasing super strong aliens from existence, healing mortal wounds and old disabilities as well as whatever Whis was doing to Appa to make him fly super-fast. All of that made Sokka feel at the very least concerned. Aang had the best idea after all to treat them with utmost politeness.

Sokka did not have much time to ponder any further on this, as the weird light started to diminish. Appa slowed down significantly, and Aang was notified by Whis to prepare for landing. Toph, upon hearing that, leaned out of the saddle.

“Oh, there it is... whoaaaah!” She wobbled again dangerously. Fortunately, Katara held her down. Toph gotten better after a moment and said:

“Oh, thank you Katara! Woah...” She now focused on the view again. “All of those little dots, boxes and lines! Oh, are those houses?” The area beneath them was the capital city of the Fire Nation. Toph looked around some more and noticed the place to which they were going.

“What the hell even is that? That shape, and this weird figure on top of it...” Her tone slightly shifted from awe to confusion.

“This is the royal palace, that weird figure that is. The shape on which it sits is a dead volcano.” Sokka took upon his explaining duty yet again, quite happy to talk about something that was not another cloud.

“Wow, so Zuko lives in that thing? Hah, it's so odd, all of those spikes and blocks and stuff... wait, is it getting bigger? The whole thing feels like it's growing!”

“Not bigger: closer. The shape must be confusing your senses.” Katara decided to chime in. She spoke very little during the flight but sometimes aided Sokka in explaining some of visual concepts to Toph.

“Oh, okay. Sure.” Toph said.

“Okay, we're here! Everyone hold tight!” Aang shouted.

Appa turned in the air and descended towards the main gate of the palace. There were two guards in front of it. After Appa landed, they moved towards the bison and bowed shortly, apparently aware of who’s bison that was. Aang jumped down from Appa's neck and approached them.

“Greetings, Avatar.” Said the left guard “You are always welcome at the royal palace. Fire Lord Zuko is not here yet, but I can inform the interim Fire Lord Iroh of your arrival.”

The right guard frowned and stared at the floor, apparently recalling something. Then he suddenly looked at Aang and spoke: “Were you not supposed to meet with the Fire Lord onboard his vessel en-route to the capital?”

“I was, but there was a change of plans. We have two important guests from a distant land with us that desired to visit the royal palace.”

Guards got a bit confused at this remark. Sokka was not surprised. Who after all could be important enough to demand a visit to the royal palace of the Fire Nation while being escorted by the Avatar himself on top of that?

The left guard looked at the bison behind Aang, as the other people that the animal carried were getting off it. Sokka jumped down as Aang was talking, while his sister was helping Toph.

Then Beerus suddenly leaped a couple dozen feet in the air and landed gently next to Aang. Whis followed with similar motion and landed behind them.

Both guards' jaws dropped slightly, and their eyes widened. Sokka decided to explain:

“This is Lord Beerus, and this is his faithful servant, Mr Whis!” Sokka introduced the two, as he walked over to the guards. “Please lead them to a dining hall, preferably the far left one near the courtyard” Sokka remembered the building's layout quite well from their previous visits as well as numerous plans that he studied. “Toph, Aang and Katara will go with them. In the meanwhile, lead me to the Fire Lord Iroh, I need to let him in on what's going on.”

Nobody protested this idea. Beerus and Whis looked as if they politely did not care, Toph was looking around everything with curiosity (Sokka noticed that she was wobbling much less now) and Katara still accompanied her. Aang, in the meanwhile simply listened to Sokka, nodding affirmatively when being mentioned. After Sokka was done talking, the Avatar spoke to the group:

“We will now go with that gentleman to a dining hall.” He pointed at the left guard.

Everyone moved closer to Aang. The guard woke completely from his shock and said:

“Well, okay then, follow me.”

“Sure.” Said Aang and walked after the guard through the palace gate. Meanwhile, the right guard, apparently still confused, just pointed at the entrance with his head and started moving. Sokka followed him.

They split off from the other group after encountering some corridor crossroads. Sokka spoke to Aang: “Meet you there once we find Iroh.”

Aang nodded at him, and took the turn with everyone else, as instructed by the left guard. Sokka in the meanwhile followed the right guard down the main hall.

They arrived at the big gate of the throne room. There were two more guards standing on the sides of it. The guard that was escorting Sokka spoke to them:

“Sokka of the Water Tribe, requesting audience with the Fire Lord!”

Sokka was a bit surprised that his name was known to his companion, but then a proud smile appeared on his face, as he realised out loud:

“Aah, it's nice to be internationally recognised for our efforts to save the world!”

One of the gate guards responded: “Well, we did have to memorise all of you runts' names and faces when you were planning the invasion on this palace.”

Sokka just chuckled uncomfortably at this remark, “Yeah... but you must admit that it was a good plan! After all, I came up with it!”

“Heh, it would be, if we didn't have our tunnels under the mountain.”

“What the hell, Lee, this is a state secret!” The third guard spoke with some frustration.

“A state secret that this kid already visited personally. Relax, Wang, and help me open this gate.”

They grabbed the handles and pushed. The Lee guard spoke with some effort:

“Finally, some exercise. Lord Iroh told all colonial delegations to wait for Lord Zuko' return. Nobody was here the whole morning...” As he finished the sentence, the gates were open.

“There you go, kid” Sokka's escort spoke, and walked back the hall.

“Have fun” Said Lee, preparing to close the gate.

Sokka waved at them as he entered the room. Then he looked ahead.

Iroh was sitting on the throne behind the familiar wall of fire, playing with something that was lying in front of him (Sokka couldn't see what it was, as it was covered by the flames), and sipping some tea. Upon noticing the boy, he smiled, walked down from the throne and said:

“Sokka, it's nice to see you. What brings you to the me today?” Then Iroh shifted his tone to slight confusion and asked: “Are you alone here?”

“No, mr Iroh, we are all here with Aang. Listen, would you be able to whip a feast with as many dishes as possible to the left dining hall near the courtyard? Aang and the others are already there.”

“Of course, I will be glad to! But what's the occasion? And whom do you mean by ‘all’, except Aang? I presume that Katara is with you?”

“Yes, as well as Toph. But there also two weird travellers that we have met on our journey. One is a cat-like man named Lord Beerus, and the other is a tall pale blue dude with a snow cone hair and a weird circle levitating around his head. Named Whis. They asked us to show them the best food in the world and we decided to go here. Make sure that everyone treats them as the guests of honour and that all the best stuff that your cooks can prepare is there.”

“Well, this is unusual. Two travellers, you say? Do you know anything else about them except for their appearance and names?

“Well, we are quite certain that they are not from this world and that they are very powerful. They probably are space aliens, we met a few of those before they arrived.  Oh, and also please keep everyone away from that dining hall, they draw enough attention as it is.” Sokka was speaking with a slightly alerted tone.

Iroh now was looking even more confused. After a second of intense thinking, he said:

“I would be lying if I said: 'I understand', but I will give out the proper orders and meet you there.”

“We will fill you in on everything during the feast. See you there!”

With these words, Sokka entered one of the side corridors leading out of the throne room, leaving Iroh alone to chew on this weird revelation.

 

* * *

 

Katara glared at Beerus from under the nose as he was eating.

She remained silent for the most part, while the others were talking. She was sitting next to Toph, watching out for any signs of dizziness or imbalance of the earthbender. Toph however appeared almost completely fine at this point. She was chattering with everyone, making remarks about their looks, with her newest victim being Iroh. When the old firebender arrived, he was let in on everything that has transpired up to this point by Sokka.

Their guests did not speak much during the exchange. They appeared quite reserved about their own origin, sticking to the 'two travellers from a distant world' personas. After being questioned a few times, Whis directly told them to wait with their story until after the dinner. Beerus sat there, disinterested in pretty much anything, responding to most questions with grunts. Before anyone managed to get him to speak at all, the food arrived.

Iroh apparently put the royal cooks on high alert, given how lavish the dishes were and how quickly they arrived. Katara was certain that they were sitting there for only about twenty minutes.

Whis and Beerus suddenly awoke completely new personas in them: they looked like two overly excited children who were just given their birthday presents. At the first moment, Beerus approached the food with some reservation, but after the first bite of a fish dumpling, he screamed in joy, making everyone in the room jump (even some guard showed up for a moment, but they were soon dismissed by Iroh). And then for some weird reason he decided provide everyone with a small lecture:

“Perfectly seasoned pieces of fish meat enclosed within this soft and slightly salty pie cover that even further accents their already perfect taste. How is it that I never seen this dish before. It’s something so simple and yet so amazing!”

Everyone was a bit surprised at first, hearing such a reaction to one of the least impressive looking dishes on the table. But after a few such cases, Sokka was doing their best to imitate him:

“Why, delightful! The taste of properly seasoned vegetables combined with the smooth texture of the egg whites that almost makes my throat laugh from joy. How is it that I never thought of adding eggs to a seafood soup before? This is, everyone, a work of art!”

This made both Beerus and Whis laugh out loud, as all three were now apparently competing at a game of 'who can describe their food more poetically'.

Toph in the meanwhile was torn between joining them and being amazed at how all of that food looked. She kept asking random questions about things she could not recognise with her newly acquired sight. Aang, Iroh and Katara were the ones answering her questions, although Katara mostly kept silent, unless prompted directly to speak.

The whole experience so far left her a little bit unstable. On one hand, there was this whole attack. She never was this close to dying before, and neither she was ever beaten this effortlessly. She did face against stronger opponents before and she did lose battles, like against master Pakku or Ty Lee, but this time felt different. There was no way out, no second chance. After getting struck by Pegra she was certain that every single one of them was going to die. And probably right in front of her, as she expired herself.

This was the first time ever that she had completely lost any shred of hope.

And then Beerus came along. He destroyed the hostile alien as if it was nothing. Every time since then, when he raised his voice, she felt a sense of dread. She was quite certain that the others did so as well.

On the other hand, their new acquaintances did nothing but help them out. Beerus killed the hostile alien, Whis healed Katara, cured Toph's sight and helped them travel to the Fire Nation at an insane speed. All they demanded in return so far was some food. And once they got it, they turned out to be quite the talkers and social spirits, attracting even Sokka to them.

Katara was conflicted. There was no real reason to be afraid of them anymore. Most of her companions have dropped their guard. And yet, there was still one hanging issue in the air. Questions, she recalled. When Beerus first appeared, he suggested that he wanted something else besides food. That, as well as the fact that they still knew less about them than about the aliens from before, made Katara unable to relax and drop these negative feelings.

Aang probably noticed this unease of hers, as he asked at some point whether she was okay and took her hand under the table. She shrugged his question off with the classical 'I'm fine' line and then cuddled up to him, finally abandoning Toph (who appeared to be more or less in control of her double vision, at last). Nobody really paid attention to this, given the antics of the three food poets and the recently-gifted-with-sight earthbender.

At last, Beerus finally abandoned his plate with a huge 'Aah' sound. The amount of food that he consumed along with Whis, Sokka and Iroh would probably suffice to fill a garrison.

“Aah” Beerus exclaimed again, followed by his partners in crime. “Well, now that I did what I came here for, I can finally focus on my other issue.”

This rendered everyone silent. Katara now realised that everyone else still had their guards up, given how concerned they suddenly appeared. However, Sokka looked baffled at something instead. He then asked:

“Wait, so you came here from the other end of the universe or whatever just to try our best food?”

Before Beerus managed to answer, Toph followed Sokka up:

“A food obsession at it's finest. You three must be related.”

This got a chuckle out of everyone except Katara, who just smiled faintly. Beerus then said:

“I am indeed a connoisseur in search of rare delicacies. And your world so far has done nothing but amazed me in that regard.”

“Heh, you were lucky that you run into us of all people. I mean, how else would you get some of the best food in the world?” Sokka asked.

“Oh, we would simply find any kind of store or restaurant and merely bought something.” Whis said. “We do have some valuables that we can pay with.”

“Or, we could just introduce ourselves properly” Beerus added. “I am quite sure that my title alone would suffice for entrance and service in multiple locations. I am the God of Destruction of this universe after all.”

This rendered all humans in the room silent. Neither of them fully understood the title, but the destruction bit was enough for everyone to be put on high alert. Aang was the first to ask the critical question:

“What is a god?”

This bit made Beerus look completely surprised.

“Wait, so you never heard about the gods?” He asked.

Everyone on the Team Avatar shook their heads, while Iroh said: “I have never heard of such a thing. This is quite a weird feeling at my age, having no clue about something.”

“Ahhh, how do I explain...” Beerus was now looking confused.

“Aang, when you spoke to us for the first time, you considered us to be beings called spirits. Can you tell me what you meant exactly by that?” Whis suddenly asked.

“Well, I didn't think that you were spirits, but I did not know what to call you besides aliens.” Aang said. “Spirits usually represent the forces of nature. They watch over the environment and the humans, allowing both to coexist in harmony.” He thought for a moment. “Many of them are responsible for creating or maintaining things that make up our world, like the ocean or the Moon. Some of them are friendly to humans, while the others… not so much. All of them though are transcendent beings of incredible power and authority that live among us on this world.”

“This is actually a decent description of a god, kid.” Beerus said

“So what, the gods are like the space spirits?” Sokka asked.

“Very close. Gods hold watch over the entire worlds, just like your spirits do over nature. There are gods that care for individual planets, called Guardians, then gods that focus on the quadrants of the universe, called the Kais and then gods that are responsible for maintaining the balance of everything, namely Gods of Destruction and Gods of Creation.”

“And Lord Beerus is the second last kind, like he said. His role is to eradicate anything that threatens balance of the cosmos.” Whis concluded.

This was quite a lot of information to take in at once. Katara saw everybody falling deep into their thoughts and so did she, trying to make sense of all of this. More powerful versions of spirits called the gods apparently were always there among the stars, watching over them. And one of them have just appeared on their world, wanting to taste it's cuisine. Of all these kinds of gods it had to be one of the most important ones, with destruction in the title. _Couldn't one of those lesser gods visit us?..._ she thought.

She was not sure how to feel about this.

 

* * *

 

Beerus was quite pleasantly surprised with the reaction that the people of this world have shown to his title. He decided to be blunt about his nature the moment he found a chance and he completely expected all of them to cover in fear. And yet, they did not even know what gods were in the first place and once they did, they just chewed over this information, looking more curious that worried. Saying that they looked friendly was a big overstatement though, especially that Katara girl. She was looking either grumpy or downright hostile when looking at Beerus. He was quite certain that this information did not exactly made her happier.

The silence that ensued after Whis was done speaking was then broken by Aang.

“Then, you must be a bit like me, Lord Beerus.” He said.

Beerus was surprised at this remark. “What do you mean, kid?”

“I am the Avatar. My role in this world is to maintain it's balance and harmony. I mediate the conflicts between the world's nations as well as between humans and spirits.”

“Hey, it is a good analogy. You also have to destroy or neutralise anything that threatens the balance after all” Sokka added.

Aang just looked down. As much as he would prefer this to not be true, it was correct.

“Well, that would make you pretty much the Guardian god of this world” Beerus commented. “I even saw you wield a certain god-like power before. Was that fire that you summoned a part of your Avatar abilities?” Beerus asked.

“Yes, it was. That was firebending. Many people of our world have the ability to control one of the four basic elements. The other three kinds are waterbending, earthbending and airbending. I, as the Avatar, can perform all four of these.”

“Hmmm, this is interesting. By the way, are you immortal, boy? How long you were that Avatar and   how is one appointed if it was not just you the whole time?”

Aang looked a bit surprised on the remark about immortality, but the rest of the question have gotten him on the right track.

“Avatar spirit reincarnates itself into a new person each time the previous dies. I am the most recent Avatar out of many.”

“Huh. A decent way to make sure that one is always available. Not bad at all”. Beerus said, quite intrigued by the idea. He continued after a short pause: “Well then, you are indeed the best person to ask my second question, that bothered me this whole time.”

He paused for a moment, searching for the right words. And the he spoke:

“Why did you not use your full power to protect that girl?”

That question stomped everyone. Beerus did not like this reaction at all, but he sort of expected it. They all acted as if they did not know about their suppressed powers, and top of that he could not sense a single power level release the whole time he was on this world. The strongest Chi signature barring himself and Whis was still Pecha, the remaining alien that Beerus could feel out there in a company of a few locals.

“But.. but.. I did use all my power!” Aang spoke and stood up. “I wanted to...” His voice broke here for a moment. “I never felt so much hate in my entire life. I completely lost control, this was the strongest flame I ever made, like... like...” Every one of his friends looked at him with deep concern. Katara grabbed his hand and pulled him gently back to the ground. He cuddled up to her a bit, visibly distressed at the memory.

Someone else picked up the topic. “What do you mean that he did not use all of his power?” This was Toph speaking. “It looked stronger than anything Aang was ever capable of. How can you even tell what he can do if you never saw him fight before?”

Valid question, Beerus thought. This girl was likely to possess a decent combat instinct.

“I can sense the Chi of people. Their life force, their stamina, their minds, their spirits, everything that makes up a person's internal energy. I can pinpoint it's location and volume with great accuracy.”

He made a pause, expecting a reaction. When none came, he decided to continue:

“And as far as I can tell right now... every single one of you should be able to kill the twerp that hurt Katara. You could do that with a flick, if I may add.”

This shocked everyone. Iroh, who maintained the most composure and focus during the entire exchange, now looked just as puzzled as the kids. Toph was the first one to break out of the trance:

“But.. but... how can we have such power and not know about it?!? I could barely follow this guy's track with my earth sense, how the hell was I supposed to lay a finger on him?”

“It is possible to have power and be unable to use it under one condition” Beerus answered. “When it is suppressed. The thing is, usually when people can suppress their strength, they can also release it at will, and none of you did that. Nor, for that matter, did anyone else on this world ever since we arrived on it.”

Another stomping revelation. Beerus just uncovered an important detail: every single one of the planet's inhabitants had that suppressed power. For a moment he felt a little unease at the potential consequences of his knowledge.

“In all due respect, this still does not make much sense, Lord Beerus” Iroh now spoke. “I have never heard a single mention of any yet unknown powers hidden within us humans. Where it could come from, and why we do not know about it?”

This was indeed baffling. Both to Beerus as well as to all humans in the room, as he looked at them.

And then, he looked at Whis. And much to the god's surprise, the angel did not appear to be confused at all. Rather, he had closed eyes, deeply frowning, as if something concerned him greatly.

The only time when Beerus ever saw his mentor this distraught was during some dealings with Zeno, the god of everything.

“You know something, don’t you, Whis?”

Whis suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Beerus directly.

“Lord Beerus, the world we are on is the site of the experiment conducted a long time ago by Elder Kai. The spell that he had cast upon it is still in effect to this very day.”

These words have broken the invisible wall inside Beeruses' head. He now knew everything, all of this annoyance that he felt before now made sense.

And now it returned with multiplied strength. He quite clearly remembered ordering everyone involved to end this farce where it begun.

And his demand was ignored.

 

* * *

 

Toph was sitting still during this whole exchange, staring at the table and trying to comprehend what she just heard. The conclusion was slowly becoming clear, just as the images of the eyes did when they first appeared. One of the gods cast a spell upon their entire world that would give it's inhabitants hidden powers. Why the hell they were hidden in the first place was beyond her.

Toph looked at Beerus. While she could not read his facial expressions well enough yet, she could read his heartbeat and breath. And it was terrifying. She saw Katara going pale in the corner of her eye. Beeruses' mood was scary enough earlier when it just hinted at irritation. Right now it was closer to 'livid'.

“Whis, make something clear to me. Why the hell this spell was here the whole time, when I clearly ordered it removed? Do you realise how much trouble it will become if anyone else learns about this, be it on this world or outside it?”

This did not sound good at all to Toph, bordering on a direct threat to them.

Whis sounded flustered. “The Kais thought that it would be a better idea to keep it around. However, to avoid you finding out about it, they added a camouflage spell on top of the Elder Kai's one, so that it could still work undetected. In fact, our friend the Avatar here, as well as the spirits that he can commune with are a proof of it working. This world suppresses the power of anyone or anything that was born on it.”

Toph did not understand the entirety of Whises' explanation. However, some details were now a bit clearer. She wanted to ask them what Aang had to do with any spells. Before she opened her mouth however, Beerus spoke again:

“What the hell made them think that it was a good idea in the first place?!?”

“I believe that their reasons were about balancing out the evil powers in the universe…”

“I know that much and I still stand with the point that it should just happen naturally! But why the hell they would keep it hidden instead? Now we ended up with a planet full of people with incomprehensible power that they did not even know of! Do you realise that they could become a menace to the entire universe if it was ever released?”

Now it was clear what that earlier hinge of threat meant. Soon after it was confirmed:

“I should just destroy this planet and be done with it for good.”

This froze everybody in the room. Aang went almost white pale, Sokka's eyes widened in disbelief. Iroh closed his eyes and frowned, as if intensely focusing on something. Whis had a similar expression, though much less tense. The threat did not involve him, after all.

Toph herself clenched her fists on her knees, staring at the table. Was that it? After everything they’ve been through, after these aliens attacked them, after she recovered her sight and after learning that they supposedly had incredible hidden powers they were now just supposed to die? Their world, their families, their lives, all over, just because a grumpy cat said so?

Katara suddenly stood up. Toph could feel a lot of strong emotions stirring inside of her.

“How can you even consider something like this? What gives you the right to decide the fate of our world just like that?” She sounded livid.

Beerus moved over to her, his expression removing any hint of colour from the faces of anyone in the room. Only Whis and Katara managed to stay focused.

“Don’t get cocky, little girl. My right to decide should be obvious from my title. Do you really intend to instruct a God of Destruction on what he can and can’t do?” This calm voice was sending chills down Toph’s spine. She could sense that all the other humans in the room felt similarly. Iroh looked like he wanted to say something to Katara, but before he managed to do that, she responded:

“Nobody should have such a right! Nobody should be able to decide that millions of people can die, just like that, because something went wrong with some old spells! If you really are some sort of universal balance keeper, can’t you think of literally anything else to do?”

Beerus paused here. Everyone in the room was just now focused on him, even Whis.

And he started laughing. He laughed for a good few seconds.

“Now, that’s some cosmic irony…” He muttered, after he was done laughing. He then shortly taxed everyone in the room. His expression felt weird to Toph, and so did his heartbeat and breath. He focused his attention back on Katara.

“You want me to think of something better to do? Well, here you go: I will allow one of you to release this power of yours. You can choose yourselves who will that be. I would recommend that they are someone strong, because their task will be to battle me.”

Long pause. Toph’s brain was empty.

“You see, so far I took a liking to this world. Your hospitality has been quite admirable and the food you presented to me was delicious. It would be a shame to let it all go to waste.”

Katara looked downright murderous at this point. Toph sort of wanted to get over to her and calm her down but was scared to move herself.

_What is wrong with me…_ she thought. Before she mustered herself to act, Beerus talked again:

“But I cannot overlook the issue that has arisen over here. The power required to contain this world's inhabitants is pretty much equal to my own. And frankly, I have the rest of the universe to look after. Therefore, one of you will prove to me that you can keep this place in check by beating me in combat. If you refuse, or if you fail to defeat me, then, well…”

He smiled in here, closing his eyes for a moment. Then he taxed everyone in the room again, and added:

“I will have no choice but to finish the job.”

No response. Toph felt a cold shiver, as those last words ringed throughout the hall.

“The chosen person will be allowed to be released from the suppression spell and then train with Whis for two years. I will be sleeping back at my world in the meanwhile. Is that clear?”

Toph did not expect anyone to be capable of speaking sensibly at this point, but someone did.

“Yes, it is.” Iroh could be heard. He had closed eyes and a big frown. Even Toph could tell by now that he looked distressed. And yet still calmer than any other human in the room.

“I will give you some time now to present a candidate. Afterwards, we are leaving. If you do not make up your mind by the time we do, it’s your problem. Now girl, if you would be so kind as to stop glaring at me, then I would be much obliged.”

Katara did not say anything. She indeed did stop glaring at Beerus, choosing instead to stare at the floor. However, she did not sit back. Without a word, she walked out of the dining hall outside into the courtyards.

 

* * *

 

Iroh was completely baffled by the entire situation. The whole thing was a bombshell of information that was hard to take in all at once. For most people, including some of them in this room, it would be hard to even believe it in the first place.

However, the kids did not seem to doubt the words of their visitors. They all looked like they took the threat rather seriously. Iroh himself would question the words of the gods a little bit more and perhaps ask for some proof. However, the youngsters’ story implied that they already saw what these weird entities are capable of. Toph was a living testimony of their power, having been cured out of her blindness. Therefore, Iroh himself decided to withhold his doubts and focus on the issue at hand.

After Katara stormed off, both Sokka and Aang followed her immediately. Toph remained at the table for a few more seconds, before speaking up with a bit of uncertainty in her voice:

“So, I guess we will go outside to think this through.”

“Do as you like” Beerus said, sounding disinterested, looking at a piece of meat he picked up from a plate “I will be waiting here.”

Toph walked out as well, following the others.

Iroh felt compelled to follow her for a moment, feeling that they would need some support from him right now. Making a decision like this would not be easy for them, assuming they would be even able to do it after all this shock. However, he felt that there were some details that he would prefer to know first.

“Lord Beerus, if I may ask… could you tell me what kind of power do we even possess? It was not made clear what it was exactly from what you said so far.”

“It’s not really about a specific power, as if the ability to do something. It is more about a massive capacity of Chi, as well as it’s quality.” He was answered by Whis instead of Beerus.

“What do you mean exactly by quality?”

“Chi, as you probably know, comes from livings creatures, representing the traits of their bodies, minds and souls. Therefore, even though it differs greatly from species to species, or even between individuals in a single species, it retains multiple common traits, to the point of being exchangeable. However, there is a kind of Chi that differs greatly in it’s properties from all the other kinds: the divine Chi.”

“What does the word ‘divine’ mean?” Iroh heard it before and had a guess what it was but preferred to ask anyway.

“Oh, the word is a synonym to ‘godly’, of gods.” Whis responded. “So apart from possessing unusually high supply of Chi, the people of your world also have some trace amounts of godly energy. The entities that you call spirits are comprised of that kind of Chi as well: I managed to detect their presence when we first arrived. Now, after hearing the explanation about their nature, I understand them much better. I mentioned Aang before, when I talked about the spell: he has more divine energy than other humans and he used it when fighting the alien that attacked his friend. I was curious that a mortal would possess such an ability, but then I felt that the energy he managed to tap into was not his but rather it belonged to a different entity that lives within him. I assume now that it is a spirit, given everything that I know so far about them.”

“Your assumption is correct.” Iroh said. “Aang is connected to what we call the Avatar spirit. It allows him to perform the feats that he mentioned as well as to connect to his past lives and gain their power and knowledge in a time of need.”

“Interesting. This could make him the best candidate for Lord Beeruses' challenge.” Whis said. “Unlike a certain other person from this group. Please answer me this: is Sokka in possession of this ability called bending?”

“No, he is not. Why is that?” Iroh had another guess what the answer will be.

“His divine Chi is much weaker than that of the others. You see, that spell that gave you the powers in the first place was quite an elaborate piece of work. Chi of the gods is capable of great things, and the sample left here was on top of that enchanted to develop and learn, almost like a living thing. I suspect that your bending abilities are a fruit of it’s work: attempt to circumvent the suppression that the second spell has put on you. Spirits themselves may be it’s side effect as well, or perhaps the actual workaround itself. However, it did not affect everyone the same way. Some people are perhaps better suited for more power than others, or perhaps the spell did not adapt well enough to reach everyone.”

Iroh has fallen deep into his thoughts. All of what have been said so far implied to him that Aang should be chosen, as he was the most in tune with bending, spirits and Chi. However, this would mean leaving the world without the Avatar for two years. Not mentioning how much pressure it would exert on the boy: to be worried about the worldly affairs as well as about saving it from yet another catastrophe.

“This is problematic...” He muttered. “It really feels like we will have to burden Aang with all of this yet again... but I would rather avoid it if it's possible.”

“Why is that?”

“He is the Avatar. Which means that he has a duty to maintain the balance of this world. And yet, he will now most likely vouch to deal with Lord Beeruses’ request. He will be separated from the world and his friends for so long...”

“Hmmmm...” Whis thought for a moment. “Oh, I know: we could take someone to accompany him. If anyone else will be willing to take on the challenge, I can train them too.”

“Wait, what?” Beerus reacted. He did not look happy about this idea. “You want to take more people in? Since when you are so eager for new students anyway?”

“My lord, first and foremost, it was your idea. In both cases. And as for me: I discovered that I quite enjoy teaching when training Goku and Vegeta. I especially enjoy it when dealing with competent students.” Whis said with an innocent expression. Iroh found the thought quite relatable.

“A teacher is always happy when his pupils are doing well. And even more when his teachings pay off.” He commented, thinking of himself and Zuko.

“Precisely, mr Iroh!” Whis said, looking amused.

Beerus looked at them both, irritated. Iroh got worried, seeing him like this, wondering if perhaps he did not say too much, but Beeruses' gaze was focused almost entirely on Whis.

“You are mocking me, aren't you?” He asked his mentor.

“Well, I would not mind if you paid a little bit more attention to your abilities and duties, rather than food and naps.” Whis answered.

“Whatever. Just go and grab that extra student if you have to.” Beerus said, returning to sounding indifferent.

Iroh thought for a moment about bringing some other people in when he heard that. But then he recalled that they were short on time. Besides, the kids were some of the most talented warriors in the world and on top of that it was better to keep silent about the whole affair anyway.

“Very well.” Whises' voice brought him back to reality “And also, dear Iroh, the kids will not have to stay for full two years on Lord Beeruses' world. In fact, I just thought up of an arrangement that will allow them to both train and take care of their issues back home...”

 

* * *

 

When Iroh asked his first question, Katara arrived at the garden. She found a stone near a pond and sat on it. She then stared at the water and started playing with it, raising a few droplets and moving them around in a circle.

Shortly after sitting down, she heard approaching footsteps. She did not look back to see who it was, but she did not need to. When Aang and Sokka were near her, she said:

“Guys, I am... sorry. I should not have reacted like this...”

“Yeah, it was pretty stupid to jump at him like that.” Sokka commented. Aang frowned but before he said anything, Sokka continued: “But then again we got a chance after all. I don't think you did any damage with this little rant.” Aang cheered up hearing that, and so did Katara.

“Well, what you said got into him a little bit.” They heard a familiar voice. Toph approached them as well. “He was definitely angry at first. But then, he felt weird.”

“What do you mean?” Aang asked.

“His heartbeat was quite fast when he was talking about his authority and stuff, but then, when Katara said that nobody should have the right to destroy worlds, he slowed down. He felt really... I don't know... hollow inside? Like all emotion has just left him for a moment.”

Katara allowed the water to plop back to the pond, looking down at her knees. The feeling Toph described was unpleasantly familiar to how she felt when healed from the mortal injury back then. On top of that, this description did not fit in with the image of Beerus that was already drawn in her head.

“I'm surprised to hear that he had any emotions in the first place.” she said, her voice tensing up. “I just thought that he was a completely self-absorbed prick who did not give a damn about anyone or anything! For crying out loud, did you hear...” She was suddenly silenced by a palm on her mouth. The owner of that palm was Sokka:

“Hate to break that quite accurate summary, but he is like right there behind a wall”

“Yeah, you can trash talk him when he leaves.” Toph added. “And speaking of that, which one of us should go with him?”

This rendered everyone silent for a moment. It was quite clear that the concept was at the very least unnerving.

“Well, I think it is quite obvious.” Aang said. “I am the Avatar. Protecting this world is my responsibility. I should go.” His voice suggested that he was not happy about it.

“Are you sure Aang? I mean, if Beerus really meant that you will be gone for two years, then perhaps protecting the planet is the precise reason to not go.” Sokka said. “I mean, we just went through a war and everything. You will be needed here! Like, a lot!”

“But if I don't do this, it won't matter at all. Nothing will matter! We will just all be...” He was close to breaking his voice again. Katara understood why, she felt terrified at this conclusion herself.

“You should not do this alone, Aang. You don't have to take all of the responsibility for the world's fate. Let us help too.” She said.

“Yeah, you really have enough on your plate as it is, Twinkle Toes.” Toph added. “And everyone will be really screwed if you are gone for so long. I mean, just look at what happened at Yu Dao or in Earthen Fire Industries. If I may be honest, I sort of wanted to go.”

She paused for a moment. The others looked at her with curiosity.

“I felt more scared than ever today, with these aliens and gods and especially a sudden threat of destruction. Trying to learn how to see in the meanwhile was not exactly helpful in calming down. But… this whole secret power thing still fascinates me. I mean, I always liked fighting, getting stronger and learning new things. Knowing that all of a sudden I have some new hidden abilities… I want to learn what they are! I want to see what I could do with them! The problem is… I still have the metalbending school to lead. I don’t think that leaving it for two years is a good idea…”

“Probably not.” Sokka said. “Two years is a bit too long of a vacation. Your students will probably not return. Also, you might lose that building again, if it’s left empty all this time.”

“Well… I sort of want to go too.” Katara stated.

“You do?” Sokka asked.

“Well, now that I think of it, it does not surprise me. You did look like you wanted to kick Beeruses’ teeth in, am I right?” Toph commented, smiling.

“Well, yeah. I can’t believe that someone like him can be a god that maintains the balance of the universe. He really acts more like a child than a god. I don’t want someone like him to decide about either mine, or anyone else’s life. I freaking hate him!”

Her voice was tensing up as she spoke, recalling another feeling that drove her to this conclusion. By the end of the sentence, she was almost shouting again. The others remained silent for a moment, looking concerned. Katara decided to speak up again:

“I have never felt so powerless in my entire life. Not even when Mom died. When I was… struck down…” her voice was shaking a bit, recalling that moment “… I really thought that all of you are going to be next.” She stopped here. “Beerus saved us, but I did not feel better when he showed up. I had this feeling all the way that something is wrong with him. I thought that it was stupid, that I had no reason to be scared of someone who just saved my friends… But then, when he showed his true colours, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I lashed all of my fear and anger at him.” Short pause again “I just hope I did not make everything worse than it was.” She felt as if she was about to cry. Her voice broke yet again near the end.

“You didn’t, Katara. And it’s not your fault that you are angry.” Aang said. He moved over to her and embraced her.

“Yeah, again, we get a chance.” Sokka also moved in closer and put his hand on Katara’s shoulder.

“Don’t beat yourself up over it. Also, Beerus is a creepy maniac who wants to kill us all unless we win his little contest, so you are completely fine to hate him.”

“Creepy is an understatement. Like, when he erased that prick alien.” Toph stated. “’You annoy me’, like he was talking to a naughty child.” She modulated her voice a bit to imitate Beerus when she quoted him. “And then poof, dead, like it was nothing.”

Katara remembered that moment all too well. As well as the word that ended Pegra’s life. Hakai.

“I mean, I am not even sure if I believe this whole crap about gods and destruction, but he still freaks me out. I mean, it’s all so…” Toph started speaking but was interrupted by Sokka.

“We know at the very least that he can kill everyone on this planet without any effort” He said. “Past that, I don’t really care what he is or what he can destroy. I would not mess around with him until we have to.”

Aang looked at Katara again. She was feeling distraught by this trail of thought and he noticed that.

“Maybe let’s stop talking about that right now.” He said.

They heard approaching footsteps. Katara looked over and saw Iroh and Whis moving towards them.

“Hello there, kids. Did you perhaps decide upon a candidate?” Whis spoke first.

“Oh, far from it.” Sokka responded “Aang wants to go because he is the Avatar and protecting the Earth is his job, Toph wants to go because she wants to get stronger, and Katara wants to go…” He paused, looking flustered all of a sudden. Katara quickly caught his trail of thought.

“To help Aang out with all of this. And because he should not leave the world for two years.” It was true and it also sounded better than saying ‘I hate Beerus’ right in the face of his attendant.

“Perhaps we can aid you a bit with your decision then. Just hear us out..."

Iroh and Whis then disclosed everything they talked about before they checked on the kids.

"...There is an ability called Instant Transmission, that can bring you back home instantly.” Iroh was nearly finished.

“And before you do learn it, I can lend you out a vehicle that will carry you here, if you really need to. Although I would prefer to avoid that unless there is an emergency.”

“Vehicle?” Sokka suddenly got excited. “Like that spaceship that we salvaged? Can I have a look at it?”

“We don’t have it on us at the moment.”

Sokka squinted and frowned, looking a bit surprised. He then opened his mouth again, but got interrupted by Toph:

“Great! Then I can put lily-livers on vacation, learn that instant travel something and…” she stopped, looking flustered, and looked back at Katara and the boys. “Oh. I mean, unless any of you decide to go. I can sit this one down. Sokka, you did not say anything about yourself. Wouldn’t you want a chance to get stronger than all of us for a change?”

“I mean, kinda, but you guys are all better fighters than I am. It would be a waste of a slot.”

“Sokka, don’t say that!” Katara responded “You are a great warrior yourself, even master Piandao said so. You would do just as well as any of us.”

“Yeah, you are not bad, jokester.” Toph added, turning away a little bit. “Well, I am still better, but you will definitely get there some day.” Katara for a moment thought that Toph blushed a bit, which baffled the waterbender. Before she had a chance to think about it at all, Whis decided to speak up:

“Well, if all of you want to give the training a go, then why not just do that?” He was smiling widely.

Katara dropped her jaw, and so did everyone else. The implication being:

“You will allow all four of us to go? We talked about a pair before.” She asked, not knowing what to think about it.

“Indeed we did, but I have no issue with taking some more students in. Especially if Lord Beerus agrees to do so, and he already did. Well then, shall we get ready? I believe that he is about to finish his meal anyway.”

“Hey, what the hell! I agreed to one extra student, not three! What it is, a preschool?” Beerus walked out of the dining hall. He did not look happy with what he just heard.

“Oh come on, Lord Beerus, the training will be more fun in a group!” Whis said cheerfully. “And besides, the kids will stand a better chance in greater numbers. Why not to cut them some slack?”

“Ughhh, even more runts running around my temple. Whatever, I will be asleep anyway. You get one more.” He responded, visibly exasperated. “And for the record, remove him from the group.” he pointed at Sokka. “He will just be a waste of space. You said it yourself that his power level is lower than that of the others.”

Sokka sighed and said “Of course it is.”

Meanwhile, Katara felt another surge of anger.

“He is not a waste of space! How can you say something like this right in his face?!?”

“Silence, girl, or you are both out. Whis, let’s go already. I have long overdue nap to attend to.”

Katara’s gaze could be best described as murderous but, remembering her previous outrage and her own feelings about it, she stayed shut. Sending three people was much better than two. She saw that the rest of her friends managed to keep their cool, although their eyes also had sparks of anger.

Sokka then asked: “Wait, so you are all going, like, right now? To another planet?”

“Yes, it would appear so. Come on, everybody, let's gather around here” Whis responded, moving onto a clear field with no trees nearby. “And we will commence our journey”

The gravity of the situation has now become clear to Katara. Whatever was supposed to happen, wherever they were going, it was now.

“Thank you for your hospitality, Iroh. Have a good day.” Beerus said, moving over to where Whis was standing.

The familiar anger at the god has returned yet again. Katara started walking towards Whis with determination. Before she reached him however, she remembered something.

“Sokka, go to the South Pole and tell Gran-Gran that I have to stay with Aang for a little longer.”

Sokka ran over to her and hugged her. “I will, sis. Take care of yourself out there.”

Aang in the meanwhile faced Iroh and said. “Tell Zuko that I will be here as soon as possible.”

“I will, Aang. Do not worry, he will understand. I will help him myself as much as possible until your return.” Iroh responded.

Then Aang went over where Katara and Sokka stood. Iroh followed him, and so did Toph.

They moved over near each other, and after a few seconds, they engaged in a group hug around Sokka.

“Take care, Sokka.” Aang said

“Yeah, don't get too excited about that spaceship.” Toph added.

“Easy guys, I know what I am doing, I am an accomplished inventor after all.” Sokka responded, smiling faintly.

“Get over here, kids, or we are leaving without you!” Beerus could be heard from behind their backs.

“Ehhh, we have to go. Or Mr Grumpy Cat over there is going to get cranky.” Toph said and separated from the others. She moved over to where Beerus and Whis stood.

“Just grab my hand, little one” Whis said. “And hold on tight.”

“Take care of Appa, okay?” Aang said. He held Katara's hand, as they both walked towards the gods.

“I will, don't worry.” Sokka responded. His smile quickly waned when Katara moved away.

The siblings looked at each other for a little, until she and Aang reached Whis.

“Grab either Toph, or Lord Beerus, and hold on tight as well.” He said.

Aang caught Toph by the forearm, who was already grabbing Whis the same way. Katara just kept holding Aang’s hand. She preferred to keep her distance from the god.

“Make sure that you don't let go, whatever happens.” Beerus said with a mean looking smirk.

Toph looked at him, opening her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but then, it begun.

Streams and sparkles of multi-coloured light have surrounded them. They were quickly gaining in number and strength, almost blinding the kids. Katara instinctively gripped Aang's arm tighter. A weird, unearthly noise could be heard all around them, like a low-pitched screech. It was mixed with a howl of the wind that suddenly formed.

Katara looked over again to where Sokka and Iroh stood. They were waving at them and trying to say something. She could not hear though what it was, and she had no time to think about this. A moment later, she felt a sharp pull, and everything has turned white.

 

* * *

 

Bright beam of light has pierced the sky. It lasted only for a second but was nonetheless noticed by plenty of people everywhere around the Fire Nation. Fire Lord Zuko stared at the sky from the deck of his ship, wondering where it came from exactly. It looked as if it was somewhere on the mainland, but it was still too far away to say for sure.

Plenty of ordinary citizens also stared at the same spot, especially in the Fire Nation capital. Some of them thought of spirits, some of lighting cast by a firebender, and some of a trick of the eye. Very little people were attentive enough to consider it particularly unusual or unnatural.

Some however did. A few shadowy figures on an old graveyard all stared at the same spot between the stars.

One of them decided to comment on this:

“It was the fifth time I saw something like this today. First, a small flash in the sky, then the two shooting stars in the same spot in the east, then a white light headed right here, and now this.”

“It was probably the Avatar. The Fire Lord has called him in the to fend us off, and now he prepares some spirit world trickery.” A second shadow joined in.

“The Avatar was supposed to arrive with the Fire Lord, why did he appear by himself so early?” The first shadow asked.

The question remained hanging in the air for a moment. Then, one of the figures removed a hood and mask from her head. The other shadows turned towards her, looking at the revealed face. Fiery eyes stared into the sky, the dark hair tied in a knot resisted the wind, except for two loose strands in the front.

“I don't know why, my sisters.” Azula responded. “But I am most curious to find out.”


	3. Shadows of the dusk

Katara felt breathless. Her heart was pounding fast, as she held onto Aang’s arm with all her strength.

Everything that has happened to them so far was already panic inducing enough. Between the aliens, the gods and the threats of destruction she should already be insane.

And then, the three of them were pulled out of their world into a whirlwind of white. Beerus did not hesitate to inform them that letting go of Whis would result in a slow death by suffocation. Apparently, Whis was pulling an orb of air around him as he flew, that allowed the non-god passengers to breathe in the otherwise empty cosmos.

The surrounding space looked like an endless bright tunnel, through which they moved at an incomprehensible speed. Katara was not the only person freaking out over this unearthly experience. She could see Aang clutching tightly to Toph, looking around with his eyes wide open.

Toph on the other hand looked almost exalted, as she stared into the white void with a wide smile. The new experience must have been incredibly exciting to her, especially given her restored sight. Her chattering mood from the dinner has returned, as she now bombarded their guide with questions about the tunnel, their destination as well as the ability to travel like that.

“So you are saying that if we stopped for a moment, we would see what the universe looks like?” One such question has ringed.

“Yes, my dear. There would be a black void all around us, littered with nearby stars.” Whis responded. Katara was full of admiration for his patience.

“Oh, can we make a short stop? Just for a moment? I want to see it!” Toph asked, sounding even more excited at this idea.

Beerus snarled and looked at her menacingly, but she did not even notice. Whis in the meanwhile responded: “Why not. Please, have a good look at this galaxy over here.”

The white tunnel suddenly vanished.

It instead became the mentioned void. As Katara was looking around, trying to get her eyes adjusted to the dark, she saw something brighter on her left. After a few seconds of staring at it, she gasped.

A spectacle of millions of stars unfolded before them. She gazed upon the multiple arms, the shining core and the delicate halo that comprised a galaxy.

Toph’s expression was hard to describe with words. The bright stars were reflected with her now-seeing eyes. Katara thought for a moment that there was a hint of tears in them.

“Wowowow, Toph, watch out!” Aang suddenly spoke. Katara, startled, looked at him and then noticed the reason for his worry: Toph almost completely let go of Whis’s arm.

“Relax, kid, you will not fall behind us if we are not moving at all.” Beerus said. “Speaking of which, can we go now?”

Whis just sighed. Toph frowned a bit, but nonetheless remained silent and gripped the angel’s hand firmly. Shortly after, the white light returned, marking their departure from this place.

 

* * *

 

Toph never expected that having healthy eyes could be so much fun. Everything that she saw amazed her, even the things that she thought she knew how they looked like. The restoration of her sight was definitely the biggest highlight of this day.

It stopped her from feeling otherwise down and scared about everything else they have dealt with. The revelation about the aliens and gods was initially completely overwhelming for her. She used to feel strong and confident in her abilities, perhaps somewhat naively convinced to be untouchable. Sure, she knew that they were forces greater than humans throughout the world, such as spirits or dragons, or even badgermoles. But she never feared those, thinking them to be either tameable animals or mystical creatures that did not care about humans all that much. The opponents that she assumed she will fight with throughout her life all deemed to be within her grasp, be it benders, chi-blockers or other kinds of warriors. She did not expect to deal with any mythical creatures beyond her imagination.

And then, she learned that she was wrong. During the alien’s attack, and then again during Beerus’s revelation she felt yet again like that helpless little girl lost in a cave all those years ago. The gap of power between her and these strange entities has been insurmountable, and unlike the dragons or spirits, they were actually after them. They were real and they confronted her and her friends directly.

And yet, as Sokka said, there was a chance. They had powers they never knew about, and they had a lot of time to learn to use them. In the end, between this and her new eyesight, her spirits were high up. Even though there was an incredible threat looming in the distance, she intended to enjoy herself as much as possible before it arrived. Every moment, every new place, everything she could now see, every new ability to learn.

It would be much easier for her to completely shed any scraps of worry if it was not for Beerus being a prick. She did not feel as mad at him as Katara did, but most of his antics after the dinner felt particularly annoying, especially the comment that he made about Sokka.

Fortunately, Whis was on a completely different page to his master in terms of behaviour. His spontaneous acts of good will, as well as his overall cheerful demeanour made him quite likeable in Toph’s eyes. Therefore, instead of directly smack-talking Beerus like Katara did, Toph preferred to annoy him indirectly with the help of Whis.

Shortly after they resumed their journey, she asked:

“Hey, could you slow down again once we are near your world? I want to have a look at it from high up.”

“Jeez, how many times are you going…” Beerus reacted immediately but was interrupted by Whis.

“Of course. It is quite a sight to behold, if I do say so myself. I will also be happy to answer any of your questions about it… in great detail.”

Yup, now Toph was certain. He enjoyed messing around with his master. He even winked at her at the detail remark.

Beerus just growled and hissed something inaudibly and looked away from them into the void. Toph had to use all of her strength to stop a chuckle. And then she heard two muffled giggles behind her, almost making her laugh out loud.

After this little bit of fun, Toph returned to her previous routine of asking a plethora of questions. The galaxy that she just saw was a perfect topic too. She remembered Sokka talking about celestial bodies such as this one before, and now she had both the reason and the means to learn more about it.

 

* * *

 

Aang was glad for this short opportunity to relax and have some fun. After everything that has happened so far, and with everything that was still coming to them, this flight was a much-needed break. He did freak out a bit when they moved out, like his friends did, but Toph’s attitude and all the random trivia about time and space that she got out of Whis managed to steer his attention away from other issues.

However, he was still worried about Katara’s well-being. Even though she appeared to feel reasonably well right now, he was certain that this entire freaky day took a massive toll on her.

It definitely did on him. Right after winning a war, in the middle of sorting out the mess it left behind, the universe suddenly decided to throw up a whole new bunch of problems. While he could not conceive the notion of leaving them to someone else, this new challenge still made him feel a lot of unwanted pressure. He now had to worry about both the world’s affairs and the threats that loomed outside it.

At least, Katara and Toph were still with him. For a moment back then he thought that he will go completely alone to a whole new planet, leaving behind all his life, his friends and his duties. Fortunately, that was not the case anymore.

He was still uncertain about some things. The scale of power they would receive, how it would compare to Beerus’s and whether or not they could challenge him as a group was all still out in the open. Aang hoped that they could fight together, given Whis’s expression about giving them a chance, but he did not want to make a bet on it yet.

He did not speak about any of these issues, hoping that Katara would forget them for a moment and enjoy the flight. Toph’s little banter with Whis and Beerus seemed to cheer her up. They would have to get back to this stuff at some point, but hopefully not anytime soon.

As he was thinking about this, the white tunnel around them changed again. Instead of becoming the darkness of space however, it became the most surreal sight that Aang has ever witnessed.

They were now near a gigantic upside-down pyramid floating about in what looked like a multicoloured cloud, with the shades of pink and brown being the most prominent. Aang noticed, upon closer inspection, that the pyramid had small steps on its sides, and that it also was cut up to four trapezoid pieces, with their wider bases becoming four separate levels on which one could theoretically stand. All of the pyramid segments seemed to be made of some sort of violet glass-like crystal. The second widest level was covered by a lush forest and then roofed by the smaller base of the final piece.

The top surface was also covered by a forest, but much less dense. There were multiple empty plains there, as well as lakes and rivers, giving it a more natural look, as opposed to the perfectly square jungle on the level below.

The real eyecatcher however was a giant tree that stood exactly in the middle of the top level. It was almost the same size as the pyramid underneath it. It also looked ancient, with no visible leaves, giving the whole construct quite a spooky feeling.

The pyramid was surrounded by a bunch of planets. They looked quite small, especially when compared to the pyramid, but Aang was not really able to judge their sizes and distances correctly, given his limited experience with astronomy. There probably also was a sun nearby that illuminated the whole thing, but Aang could not tell where it was exactly, as it was hidden behind the clouds.

The eyes and mouths of his friends were both wide open, and so were Aang’s. After a few seconds of silence, they were woken up by Whis’s voice.

“Everyone, welcome to Lord Beerus’s planet!”

Aang had like a million questions about this whole place, and he was quite sure that Toph had even more. Before any of them managed to ask any though, Whis started his tour:

“These planets serve as a target practice during Lord Beerus’s training. If they get destroyed, I usually restore them for later. You will be able to use them too during your own practice”

That was a lot to take in in a single sentence. Aang’s mind went blank.

“Those two planes comprise the surface of the world” He pointed at the first and second level of the pyramid. “They hold their own atmosphere, as well as water and wildlife. There is plenty of space for any sort of exercises over there, especially on the top level”

Katara and Toph could not recover their ability to speak either. Whis just continued:

“This is Lord Beerus’s temple.” He pointed at the tree. “There are multiple chambers and buildings both within the tree and on its sides. They provide a lot of living space as well as any commodities that you could desire. There are also extra chambers underneath the tree, within the blocks of the pyramid, but we rarely visit those, and they are mostly unused. Lord Beerus prefers to use the facilities near the top of the tree.”

“You… you live in that thing?” Toph asked with a wobbly voice. Katara still did not close her mouth since their arrival in this world.

“Yes, indeed. We also spent a lot of time on the glades below the tree. The areas near that lake are particularly pleasant for leisure time.”

Toph just looked in the direction he pointed at with awe. She appeared to be just as touched by this surreal place as she did before by the galaxy.

“Actually, we will be landing exactly there.” He said. “You will be able to take a close look yourself!” He added cheerfully. The team did not say anything, just trying to absorb as much of the view as possible.

When they got closer to the surface, the sky lost most of its brown shades and the pinks intensified for some reason. Given everything else, Aang did not think of this much.

Then they touched down. The greenery seemed to have a blueish hue, but other than that it felt normal. The air was clear and there was no specific smell in the air. However, the place felt far from normal, and not just because of its looks.

Aang felt as if some sort of invisible pressure suddenly surrounded them. It was not stopping them from breathing of pushing them down to the ground though. If anything, it felt more mental, or perhaps spiritual. After a moment it reminded Aang of being in the Avatar State, when the pure cosmic energy of the universe was flowing through him.

He figured that a world inhabited by gods would be seeping with such an energy.

Beerus moved away from Whis and faced the entire group directly. This motion woke the team up somewhat, and they all looked at him.

“Alright Whis, before I go to sleep, I want to see what those guys are made of. Can you unseal their powers by yourself, or do you need some help with that?”

“Of course, I can, my Lord.” He moved to Beerus’s side. “I was there when both spells were originally placed after all.”

“Wait, so you were in on this thing whole time? How long were you going to keep it a secret?”

“I wanted to see what will come out of this idea before I tell you about it. I was quite certain that you would want to destroy that planet once you learn about all this. But after a few million years, I kind of forgot about it.” He laughed shortly at the end.

Aang was baffled by this response. Whis so far appeared to be less childish than his master, but this sounded like quite aloof attitude. Then again, a few million years was probably a long enough time to forget anything.

“Pfff, whatever. Just get on with this already.” Beerus spat out, sounding irritated again.

“Well then.” Whis turned to them. “Okay kids. Stand still and relax. I will now remove the sealing spell from you. After it is done, let me know how you feel before doing anything, especially moving around. Are you ready?”

Aang did not feel ready at all but decided to rough it up anyway. If there ever was a time for an earthbender attitude, it was now.

“Ready!” he said with a little bit higher than normal tone. Toph and Katara nodded along. Toph just stared at whatever was in front of her, appearing intensely focused, while Katara looked down at the ground and closed her eyes. Aang for a moment wanted to say something to her, but then:

“Let us begin!” Whis said.

He pointed his staff at the three of them. It shone with a green light. Aang for a moment wanted to close his eyes too, but then he caught a glimpse of something bright around him. He looked around to see what it was, and saw a white beam forming around Katara.

Intense light suddenly appeared everywhere, blinding him. He felt a wave of heat moving all over his entire body. Then, the pressure from before intensified massively. He could not see it, but a beam of light shot up high in the sky from where they stood, illuminating the entire tree for a moment. It lasted tall and bright for a good few second, flooding Aang with more heat and pressure over time.

Then it all stopped. Pressure returned to its previous level, the heat subsided. Aang’s eyes were still open, and he still saw Katara in front of him. Her face looked sterner than before, but she was otherwise unchanged.

Aang looked away from her in the direction of Whis and Beerus and then noticed something. He felt as if there was something behind the gods somewhere in the distance. He did not know how to describe it exactly at first, but then he recalled his firebending training in the Sun Warrior’s city. He felt as if there were two large flames, or perhaps two small suns inside the great tree, just like the one he could feel within him whenever he firebent.

“I don’t feel any different.” He suddenly heard. Toph looked directly at Whis as she spoke. “But I do feel as if there was something…”

Toph made a step forward as she was speaking. And then, her eyes became empty and her face lost all colour.

 

* * *

 

Toph felt as if another surge of heat washed over her, originating in her feet but then spreading everywhere else. First thing that she saw was something white in front of her eyes, floating lazily around her, sort of like steam, or perhaps a really slow flame.

This did not flinch her. She kind of found it familiar, and not just because of the heat sensation from before. It reminded her of something natural to her and yet unknown, something primal and instinctive. Perhaps something that she did all the time, but never thought about.

Like breathing.

The thing that completely stomped her came from her senses, both the earth one and the visual one, once she made a single step.

Normally, when she was sensing the vibrations of the earth around her, they would diminish with distance. She could tell something far away apart if it was big or if there were any strong tremors or noises near it, but otherwise she was fairly oblivious to distant objects.

Right now however, these familiar waves of her earthbending sense felt endless. The vibrations from her step travelled further than she could possibly imagine. They reached the tree, the forest behind them, the edge of the world. Everything on this level of the pyramid was suddenly as clear as day to her. She saw every tree, every blade of grass, every building of the temple, every room within the tree or in the dungeons below. She felt the exact shape of the pyramid piece that they were standing on.

She also sensed two people in the temple. She could tell that they were standing on a balcony and looking at them. Each of them felt as if there was a strong heat emanating from them, as if she was staring at two suns from behind the closed eyes.

And that was not all. Since regaining sight, she often visualised things that she detected with her seismic sense as images in her head. However, right now, it made her feel as if she was seeing through walls, and yet still seeing normally through her eyes on top of that.

“What is it, Toph?” she heard Whis’s voice. For a moment she had trouble locating him, her mind bolting around the entirety of the temple. His image on top of that felt weird, fluid, as if she was seeing both his front and back at the same time. She also felt as if she could see inside him a bit, fortunately it was very faint. She concentrated on her eyes as much as possible, trying to prioritise the things she could visibly see and ignore everything else. After a moment, she could indeed focus on the things in front of her and her vision became more concise. She saw that white fire-smoke again.

“The temple… I can see everything… inside… outside… its overwhelming…”

“Aah, your seismic sense got sharper. That’s good to hear” Whis said.

“There are two people inside… they feel like two small suns… I don’t know…” Toph added.

“We know them. If you can sense them, then it’s obvious that your Chi has gotten stronger.” Beerus spoke.

“What does your Chi feel like?” Whis asked.

“I am not sure… like warmth… and like breath…” Toph said. Then something clicked in her head. The Chi. Earth sense. Bending. Those were all connected to this feeling of warmth. This light and heat recalled her of each and every time when she was bending.

Now she understood. She did not recognise it immediately because bending was very instinctive to her. While some benders had to think about the Chi and its flow to master their art, for her it was always as natural as breathing, given that she utilised it pretty much all the time as an extension of her senses. She did not have to think how her Chi was supposed to flow, just as she did not have to think how to walk.

Right now however, she needed to focus specifically on that. After a second or two, she had an idea.

Trying to bend could teach her the sensations that she needed to know in order to control Chi. Therefore, she moved one foot forward in a sliding motion, focusing on the earth in front of her. She intended to raise a small rock upwards and then let it fall in order to grasp the feeling of raising and then releasing Chi.

Then, multiple things happened at once. First, she noticed that her leg moved much faster than normal. Second, the rock that she focused on jumped out of the ground and moved forward without her commanding it to do so, reaching Beerus in no time and hitting him straight on the face. Third, a surge of fire followed that rock. Fourth, a new person appeared in front of her out of nowhere, right in the line of that fire.

“Hi there, I’mwuaaaah!” Could be heard. Then on top of that, the owner of the voice jumped out of the way of the fire and for some reason stayed afloat in the air.

 

* * *

 

Katara had her eyes closed ever since Whis started the spell removal. Ironically enough, she ended up being the most aware of what was going on out of the three humans.

As she was a waterbender, and on top of that a bloodbender and a healer, she was one of the most talented people on Earth in regard to sensing changes in Chi. She quickly realised that this weird heat-light that she started to sense was the Chi of the people around her.  She could tell quite quickly that Toph’s Chi has shoot up dramatically when she exerted herself by walking. She could also sense that it went up even further when her feet touched the ground, performing instinctive earthbending.

She also detected the two mentioned people that were in the temple. On top of that, she could tell that they were on the move towards them the moment Toph started bending. Once they were near them, she opened her eyes to see them.

Right in time to see the whole scene. Including the aura that was surrounding Toph’s body, Beerus getting smacked in the face with a rock, a jet of flame coming from underneath Toph’s feet and a black-haired girl in orange clothes that dodged it.

Apparently by flying up in the air and levitating. With no visible support on top of that. Yay.

Right after Katara thought that she had a grip on the situation, the universe just proved her wrong yet again.

She wondered for a moment if this is how it felt to be Sokka.

Another girl landed next to Beerus. She was wearing similar clothes to the first girl, both being martial arts outfits with undershirts, but hers were blue. Just to add to the insanity, her hair was also blue. Beerus frowned and growled, as the rock that hit his face fell to the ground, but for some reason he calmed down when seeing her.

Katara was in a dire need for a hook in reality, before this whole mess exploded her head. Fortunately, the two girls were happy to oblige her.

“Hey, watch out with that fire!” The black haired one actually moved in the air and touched down between the two groups, facing Toph.

The earthbender just looked at her with empty eyes. After a second or two of awkward silence, the black-haired girl spoke again:

“It was cool though, shooting rocks and fire like that! What’s your name, where are you from? What else…”

“Put a sock in it Pan, our guests are not in the mood to answer your endless questions.” Beerus spoke.

“They are Whis’s new students, apparently.” The blue-haired girl chimed in. Her tone felt weird. She was smiling faintly, but something felt off about her. “They do not look like much though.”

“Hey, that’s not nice, Bulla! Everyone is a beginner at some point!” Pan responded. Katara was just happy to listen to those two chat, it felt somewhat soothing. Aang and Toph seemed to be too baffled yet to talk.

“I understand that, but I am just surprised to see beginners here. What is the reason behind your acquaintance with them?” Bulla directed this question at the gods.

“They came from a remote planet from the far edge of the universe. They hold a lot of potential they were not aware of and we wanted to check it out.” Beerus provided the answer.

“Well, we will see if it amounts to anything.” Bulla said. She then moved right towards Katara and addressed her directly: “You look kind of soft for a potential fighter.”

“I guess I kinda feel soft too.” Katara answered. After everything that happened that day, she just wanted everything to end and fall down on some bed. Normally the girl’s attitude would be a bit annoying, but between everyone here being apparently so much more powerful than them and her growing tiredness, she did not care.

“If you say so. And you, oh my.” Bulla looked at Aang now. “You look as if you couldn’t hurt a fly.”

Aang shook his head and woke up from his trance. “Well, I am a pacifist, so it’s not inaccurate.” He responded, looking flustered.

Bulla’s expression shifted, and Katara suddenly realised what was wrong with it. This smile was pretty spiteful and condescending, and so was the manner of her speech.

“A pacifist? You mean a coward that pretends to have a reason for having no spine? Well, whatever works for you.”

Aang now looked somewhere between flustered and angry. It was probably hard for him to respond sensibly to this after everything else that happened that day. Toph just stared at Bulla mindlessly, apparently surprised at this remark.

“He is not a coward!” Katara screamed. She seriously had enough of over-bloated pricks in a single day. Especially if two of them were still right in her face. Her tiredness left her, leaving only anger behind.

“And yet he needs a girl to speak up for him. What are you, his mom?” This weird condescending tone from before disappeared, being replaced with a standard ‘mean girl’ voice.

Katara and Aang got completely stomped at this part, while Toph laughed.

“His girlfriend, but she does have a thing for being everyone’s mommy.” She said, still chuckling.

“Well, I don’t envy you. Or myself for that matter, if we are supposed to live under the same roof now.” Bulla was apparently revelling in acting like an asshole. On top of that, Beerus and Whis just watched the whole scene instead of reacting. They were weirdly focused, as if they were anticipating something. Pan was just smiling uncomfortably. Aang looked as if he wanted to say something.

“What the hell is your problem?!” Katara asked Bulla angrily, stopping Aang in his tracks.

“It’s nothing, mom, I’m just saying what I’m thinking. Anything wrong with that?”

“Anything wrong? Oh, how about you just belittled me for no reason, then you offended Aang, again for no reason, and then back to me again! What the hell is wrong with you!?” Katara waved her hands behind her.

“Wow, good job at catching that first one. For a moment I thought you didn’t notice it, mom.”

“Stop calling me that!” Katara was just getting angrier and angrier.

She did not notice what was happening around her. A flame-like light of her aura was surrounding her body. Unlike the one on Toph earlier, this one was flowing and flickering at much faster pace and was also intertwined with some darker streams and sparkles. On top of that, when she waved her hands back, it produced a large wall of fire right behind her. Toph and Aang both looked at it with their mouths wide open, and so did Pan. Beerus and Whis just stayed focused.

Bulla obviously saw all of that, but all she did was to smile viciously and say:

“Make me.”

A pause. Katara now knew that all of this behaviour was meant to provoke her into a battle. She was not willing to fall for it, but then Bulla added:

“What’s wrong, mom, too scared to throw a punch?”

This was really getting old. Katara was growing angrier and angrier. The light around her body and the wall of fire behind her also grew, but she did not notice either. She just stared at Bulla for a good few seconds, trying to breathe and calm down.

“Well, I guess you are a good fit to your coward boyfriend.”

At this point Katara just lost it. She reached toward her water pouch and then threw all of its contents right at Bulla.

And then she realised what was going on. The water evaporated almost immediately, as a massive wave of fire that was raging behind Katara now followed the movement of her hand. It sort of formed a whip that completely engulfed the blue haired girl.

Katara for a moment felt shocked and terrified of what she just did… until she heard a familiar voice:

“Not bad… if you intend to mess my hairdo. You will have to try a little harder than that, if you want me to actually feel it.” The flame moved away, revealing Bulla standing in the same spot, completely unharmed. It then travelled all the way to the tree, causing a massive explosion at its base.

Katara just stared at her exasperated.  Before she mustered any riposte, Bulla spoke again.

“Allow me to give you a demonstration.”

With these words, Bulla jumped forward at Katara, preparing a punch, aiming at the waterbender’s head.

The movement was incredibly fast. Katara could feel that there was a lot of Chi behind this attack. And yet, she could still follow it with her eyes.

Katara tried to respond with her own movement. Much to her surprise, she moved almost as fast as the attacking girl. She shifted the approaching arm out of its track, pushing Bulla to her side and then followed up with a rotation, intending to kick the other girl in the back as she was passing by her.

Bulla responded to it by planting her foot firm on the ground and performing her own rotation, while forming a guard with her second hand. The forearm and the shin collided, forming a powerful shockwave.

Both girls bounced away from each other due to the force of this collision.

“Much better” Bulla said and jumped forwards again.

Another punch, and then a kick. Katara managed to move both away but had a hard time countering either. After a few more exchanges, she had an idea.

She jumped away a little further and concentrated on the lake. As Bulla bolted towards her again, Katara rotated sideways while performing a streaming motion, intending to send a lot of water at the girl.

The entire lake and a few surrounding rivers were pulled into this move. Katara for a moment could see a snake like monster lying on the exposed lake bed. The jet of water flew toward Bulla and it appeared that there is nothing she can do to dodge it.

Bulla did not react to the water at all. When it hit her, she disappeared for a moment in the stream. Only to re-emerge from it a split second later, still moving in the same direction and in the same pose. She splashed water everywhere, but otherwise acted as if she did not even notice the attack.

Katara did not expect her opponent to be completely unaffected. Her wide motion has left her completely exposed. She tried to continue the rotation to avoid getting hit on the head.

She succeeded at that, but was turned with her back to Bulla, as the other girl regained her footing. Before she managed to react, she felt a strong punch right to her spine. The force of the attack sent Katara flying towards a nearby tree.

In a desperate attempt to stop herself from hitting the tree with her face, Katara threw both of her hands forwards. A strong jet of air followed this motion, breaking the tree while slowing her significantly down. She managed to stop at the trunk and rotate again: only to be welcomed by another punch aimed perfectly at where hear head would end up.

Katara closed her eyes as it approached. She felt a strong gust of wind, and then…

Nothing. Everything stopped. A second later she heard Bulla’s voice:

“Very good… except for that water attack.”

Katara opened her eyes. Bulla stopped her final punch mid-air right in front of the waterbender’s face. Her expression softened much, now appearing more like a teacher scolding her student rather than a condescending asshole.

Katara just plopped down on the grass, not knowing what to do.

“You would need way more of it in that jet to get any reaction out of me. Other than that, your motions were quite refined. I look forward to seeing more of them as we train.”

Katara was completely confused.

“Were you… teaching me?”

“I would rather say: testing. In all honesty, all of you appeared quite distressed when I first saw you. I figured that If I simply asked any of you for a short sparring, you would refuse. Therefore, I deployed a little bit of an unruly behaviour to try and rouse you up.”

“A little bit…” Katara said condescendingly.

“Mmm, perhaps I went overboard with it. My apologies, I have nothing against either pacifists or moms. I just wanted to see what you are made of, and frankly, I am satisfied.” Bulla said, smiling.

“Oh, gracious! I feel soo honoured to have passed your little test.” Katara said, putting as much venom in her voice as possible.

 “Heh, sorry about that.” Pan suddenly spoke, still smiling uncomfortably. “Bulla kind of has a tendency to provoke people.”

“Only if I find them interesting. And speaking of that, I would like to take on you next, arrow boy.” She now turned towards Aang.

Aang who was left with more or less gaping mouth during the whole exchange, now just smiled faintly.

“Actually, I think I would rather leave it until tomorrow. I think we all had enough excitement for today.”

He then moved towards Katara and lent her a hand. As she took it and tried to stand up, she suddenly felt wobbly. Aang embraced her and lifted her off the ground, helping her to stay up. She now noticed that she was breathing heavily.

“Yeah, I definitely did.” Katara said. Her aura almost died out.

“Me too, I still see the entire freaking castle flickering in my head.” Toph added.

“Ahhh, that’s quite a disappointment. Well, now that you know of my little ploy, there is no point in trying to annoy you any further. We will pick this up tomorrow then.” Bulla responded.

Katara gave her an annoyed gaze. This weird attitude of the blue haired girl reminded her of someone, but right now she could not recall who that was.

“Well then.” Beerus decided to speak up. “That was quite an intriguing spectacle, but right now I feel a long overdue need for a nap. Whis, please explain the rules of the temple to our new guests.” He then yawned and continued: “See you in two years, everybody.”

With these words, he flew away in the direction of the tree.

“Do you want me to show you to your rooms?” Whis asked. “We can go over the formalities tomorrow.”

Toph looked in the direction of the temple tree.

“Are we supposed to walk all the way there?” she asked gloomily.

“Not at all. Gather around me, everyone!” Whis responded.

Katara tried to walk and found out that she was feeling a little bit better now. All kids moved near Whis as instructed.

He did not do anything special, no words, no staff, no hands movement. The world around them suddenly flashed and became a wooden corridor with a few doors.

Toph flinched and fell down to the floor with a small shout.

“What is it, Toph?!” Katara asked. She moved over to her and kneeled down next to her, feeling worried. Everyone else moved closer too.

“It’s just my seismic sense again. I felt as if that whole tree smacked me in the face.” Toph said, sounding a bit distressed. “Hey, could you warn me before you do something like this again!?” She directed that last bit at Whis. She then stood up, appearing focused on maintaining her balance.

“Seismic sense?” Pan asked immediately.

“Drop it, Pan, let our guests have some rest.” Bulla interrupted her. “Our rooms are further down to the left, I guess those three are yours. Am I right, Mr Whis?”

“Yes, indeed. As I said earlier, we will discuss everything that you need to know tomorrow.”

Katara looked at Whis, and then recalled something.

“Great, now I remembered that we don’t have any spare clothes. Or anything else, for that matter.”

“Do not worry, you will find all necessary commodities in the rooms, including some attire. Now, if anyone needs anything else, I can show you any necessary facility.” Whis said.

“Bathrooms are further down the corridor, kitchen is three stories up on the east side!” Pan added, pointing at hall behind her.

“Thanks, we will just hit the beds right now.” Aang said. Katara decided to nod and saw Toph doing the same.

“Okay then, see you tomorrow!” Pan responded and bolted away in the direction she pointed at earlier.

“Rest well.” Bulla said and followed Pan.

“If you need anything, just call me out loud and I will arrive. Good night everyone!” Whis added. With these words, he suddenly vanished in a flare of turquoise light.

Katara and the others were now alone in the hall. She moved first, opening a door right in front of her.

It was a moderately sized circular chamber. A view of the plains on which they were before could be seen through a wide window. The walls had a faint purple colour and some rocks imbued into them as decorations. There were two beds inside, alongside some other furniture.

Toph, seeing the two beds, looked at the wall on the left and said:

“Well, I guess I will hit that room.” Then she looked at Aang and her eyes suddenly widened. “Wait, how it is that you don’t have any of that Chi-smoke around you?”

Katara looked at him and noticed it too. On top of that, she recalled that she never actually felt any increase of his Chi the whole time they were there.

“It’s aura, Toph. And I kind of figured out how to control it shortly after Whis did the spell removal thing.” Aang responded.

“Wow. How did you do that so fast? I was trying to calm it down when Katara and that freak girl were fighting, but it’s not working.” Toph looked at both of her hands, still covered in aura.

“You need to stop all bending and relax. Act and move delicately, do not use force for anything. I mean, I have not tried it yet, but I think that’s the way to calm down your Chi.” Katara said.

“Mhm, that should work.” Aang commented.

Toph looked at them moodily. “Stop all bending, yeah, right. Tell that to my feet. Well, whatever, I will go and try to figure it out on the bed. Goodnight, guys.”

With these words, she went for the left room and closed the door behind her.

 

* * *

 

Aang looked at Katara again, once Toph left. There was still some leftover aura around her, but the waterbender was apparently applying her own teachings to calm it down.

“Are you alright?” He asked.

“I’m… fine.” Katara responded, sounding a bit uncertain. “I just want to rest.”

She started moving to one of the beds. Aang decided to support her a little as she walked.

“I really have enough of this day. I just hope that I can…” she started talking. Before she finished the sentence, she walked into the bed and fell on it. Aang looked at her, worried a bit, but then noticed that she fell asleep on the spot, her legs still hanging over the edge.

Aang smiled. It was now more clear than ever that she and Sokka were related. He took a spare blanket and covered her. As he did that, she curled up onto the bed, muttering something inaudibly. Aang moved over to his own bed and fell down on it like a stone as well.

The moment his face touched down on the sheet, he swam away into a deep, dreamless sleep.

 

* * *

 

Toph walked over to her bed, still surrounded by aura. The sensation of the entire temple was still strong in her head.

_Great, how will I get rid of this thing now…_ she thought.

She then jumped on the bed, making sure to be as delicate as possible.

When her feet disconnected from the floor, everything suddenly disappeared. Before she managed to gasp in awe, she landed on the sheets. As her feet were not connected to the ground anymore, the automatic earthbending stopped.

_Okay, that’s something. Now to the second phase. Relax…_

Almost immediately after she thought that, she started to feel sleepy. Her aura did not disappear, but rather started to feel different. The warmth became pleasant, rather than tingling like before, and it made Toph feel drowsy.

_Soo… cosy…_

This was her last thought before she fell on her back asleep.

 

* * *

 

Zuko sat in front of a set of candles, watching them brighten and dim as he practiced his fire breath control.

He was on a Fire Nation ship carrying him home. His mother Ursa was onboard, and so was her new family. This would be her first visit in the capital ever since her banishment.

As much as he tried to hide it, he was feeling very anxious. Some of the letters from his uncle were lying in front of him. Apparently, some strange shadows were reported to be roaming the city at night, presumably ancient spirits from an old Fire Nation legend. On top of that, there was an investigation ongoing, regarding a group of rebels that wanted to restore his father Ozai as the Fire Lord.

He discussed all of that with his mother the day before. They were torn between maintaining Ursa’s safety, their shared want for her to confront her past life, as well as Zuko’s duties. In the end, they agreed to continue the journey if Zuko would call his friend Avatar Aang for aid with the issue of the shadow spirits.

Zuko sent a messenger hawk to Aang shortly afterwards, certain that his friend would be able to arrive right in time to accompany them as they travelled towards the capital.

However, he did not come. There were no signs of either the familiar bison, nor a glider with a human holding onto it. Instead, they passed the Gates of Azulon, and saw the harbour city in the distance, marking the end of their journey.

Zuko gave order to divert the course northwards and move along the shore. His uncle had sent him a message, calling him to arrive at a bay a few miles north of the city. Zuko and his family would board a submarine, disembark at a secluded location and ride a carriage through the mountains, while a double would enter the mainland through the harbour city and follow the main road, remaining out of sight within another carriage. Iroh selected himself as the double, stating that the people shall only see his hand when he will wave it at them.

He expected his uncle to send another messenger hawk right before that submarine has left the docks, but it did not arrive either.

At this point, Zuko was lost. No Aang, no Iroh and dark spirits and dissidents awaiting him back home, right when he decided that it would be a brilliant idea to tag his mother and her family along.

He figured that he would either stop and wait at the agreed location, or that he would move back towards the Gates and disembark while sending his family back home on his ship. He would not risk their safety, if neither Iroh nor Aang were there to aid him.

Zuko’s meditation about all of this was interrupted by the ship’s captain entering the room.

“Lord Zuko, we have arrived at the rendezvous point.” He said.

Zuko breathed in a bit harder, causing the candle flames to go up a bit more.

“No news from my uncle or the Avatar?”

“None, sir.”

Short pause.

“Then put us on anchor here for an hour. If nobody arrives, I will disembark at the Gates of Azulon, and you will take my mother and her family back to their village. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

The captain left.

Zuko exhaled one more time, putting out all of the candles. After a minute or two, he left the room as well.

He headed out of the tower onto the main deck. He saw his mother standing near the port bow, staring at the land.

He walked over to her. Upon noticing him, she spoke:

“What could keep your uncle away for so long?”

“I do not know. I don’t like it. Aang did not show up either.”

“You think that something could have happened to them?”

“I don’t know… how could anything threaten either of them? Why they are both absent at the same time? This does not make any sense.”

“Lord Zuko!” could be heard behind them suddenly.

Zuko turned around to see a soldier waving a parchment in his hand.

“The messenger hawk has arrived. Lord Iroh will be here in twenty minutes!”

Zuko let out a huge sigh of relief. While he was still worried about Aang, he at least could have proceeded with the travel to the capital without recalling his mother back home.

 

* * *

 

The submarine carrying his uncle Iroh has indeed arrived as specified. He was accompanied by a bunch of royal guards, as well as Suki, the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. The pleasantries were exchanged, the plan was discussed and then Ursa boarded the vessel, along with her daughter Kiyi and her husband Norem.

While his uncle managed to maintain a cheerful attitude while speaking to everyone, Zuko could not help but notice the tiredness in his expression. This was worrying, as the old man rarely ever succumbed to any negative emotions and when he did, it always meant a big trouble.

Zuko walked over to the old firebender and asked:

“Uncle, what happened? Why were you so late and why do you look so worn out?”

Iroh thought for a moment, frowning deeply.

“We will have to discuss it later. This is not something I can describe on a short notice out in the open. But do not worry about it for now. Aang and his friends are already dealing with this hurdle.”

“Wait, you know where they are? I asked Aang to join me on this ship, I was worried when he did not show up. Are they in the Fire Nation already?”

“They are not there right now, although I hope that they will come back soon. Again, I cannot explain exactly what happened.”

“If this is yet another emergency, I will have to return my mother back to her village. Did this spirits’ outbreak go out of control?”

“Spirits… no, Zuko. This is a completely new problem. Do not worry about it for now though, like I said, it is not happening in the Fire Nation. Just escort your mother and her family safely to the capital, it will not affect their visit there. I will let you in on the matter once we all arrive safely at the palace.”

“Uggh, alright. I hate it when you are cryptic like that.” Zuko knew from experience that trying to make his uncle spill out his secrets was completely pointless.

“I know, but it is really necessary this time. Have a nice trip through the mountains, my nephew.” With these words, Iroh turned away. Zuko could see for a moment, that a frown has appeared on his uncle’s face.

Zuko sighed, quite sure that these news has made him even more nervous. He then walked on the plank and boarded the submarine, ready to face the dangers of the road in front of him.

 

* * *

 

As the carriage trotted on the path, Zuko could not help but think about this new weird emergency. Something that apparently made Aang ignore his invitation in order to be dealt with.

His little sister Kiyi tried to distract him during the entire ride. At some point, as he kept looking at his own thumbs and thinking, she asked:

“Zuzu, you look all gloomy. What happened?”

The moment she said that, a huge blast shook the carriage, making Ursa scream a little and quickly grab Kiyi.

Zuko responded: “I am not sure, actually. I will go and check it out.”

With these words, he jumped out of the carriage alongside Suki.

The first thing that he noticed was a bunch of people dressed in black combat robes with covers on their faces and the New Ozai bandanas on their foreheads. Zuko prepared to fight them, but then noticed that they were not attacking them.

They were running away from something.

Zuko was quickly enlightened as of what scared the would-be assailants. A beam of bright light flew down from the sky, exploded into a fireball and caused a small shockwave near a few of the dissidents, knocking some of them unconscious. Their comrades stopped to pick them up before running away again.

“What the hell is that!?” Suki shouted, pointing at the sky in the direction from which the blast arrived.

Zuko looked over there, and his jaw dropped open.

He saw a big object that was moving towards them. Zuko was not sure if it was supposed to be a bagel or a metal disc, as the thing sort of resembled both. He could see multiple yellow and blue protrusion on its sides.

He also saw an arm shape with a funnel on its end, attached to the bottom surface of the disc bagel.

Zuko noticed this part when it spat out yet another beam of light. It flew way over them and into another group of New Ozai members, knocking some of them unconscious as well.

“What do we do? Run or hide?” Suki asked.

“We can’t do either. It’s moving too fast.” Zuko said. Shortly after he finished this sentence, the object was right above them.

He then saw its surface breaking, forming something resembling a hatch and revealing some empty space inside. Was it a vehicle of some kind?

In the newly made opening, a person appeared. Zuko could not believe what he saw.

“Hey there, Zuko, check out my new ride!” Sokka screamed, smiling.

 

* * *

 

The spaceship had more than one hatch. There were in fact six of them, with four on the sides, one on the bottom and one at the top.

Apart from the one on which Sokka stood earlier, Zuko also saw the top one being opened, in order to let in a balloon carrying his ex-girlfriend Mai, her best friend Ty Lee, uncle Iroh and the familiar bunch of guards from the ship that were tasked with guarding the fake Fire Lord.

His mother was reluctant to board the ship at first, but in the end she agreed with the argument that a flying vessel was much safer than a carriage. Her husband was a bit freaked out, but Kiyi was almost unfazed, looking around everywhere with curiosity and trying to get away from her mom in order to explore the ship.

Zuko’s friends and guards were not that moved by this flying contraption, given that each of them was on board a Fire Nation airship at least once in their life. After a short introduction and a tour by Sokka, they appeared almost relaxed. They were more curious about the capacities of this ship, as well as its pilot.

Said pilot was a blue skinned creature with a very long head and large eyes. His garment included a weird set of armour and two flower necklaces, one at his head and one on his neck.

Zuko was already introduced to him. Pecha, an alien that sought shelter from an army of the evil space emperor Frieza. Zuko also learned that this ship could apparently fly well above the sky into the void of space as well as resist a multitude of harsh environmental conditions that would annihilate any of the vehicles from Earth.

There was still a multitude of questions to be asked though. Zuko decided to go with this one:

“How did you even know how to find us?”

“I saw you through this thing!” Sokka exclaimed, raising his hand, holding a weird device. He also had a piece of glass in front of his eye, that Zuko learned to be a scouter. “It’s like binoculars, only much stronger. And just like the scouter, it can detect living things and their power levels. I saw you guys riding through the forest, and then a few minutes later you were being surrounded by some guys with masks. They didn’t look very friendly, so we decided to greet them with some blaster fire. We figured that you could use some air support.”

Zuko smiled. “Thank you.”

“It’s too bad that they managed to get away.” Iroh said “We could have learned something important from them.”

“We will deal with them later. For now, what will we do with that ship?” Zuko asked.

“You mean after we carry all of you to the capital? I want to start to dismantle this thing.” Sokka said.

“Dismantle?” Zuko was surprised. Sokka looked pretty excited about owning a spaceship, it seemed weird to break it to pieces now.

“We want to study its technology. Pecha over here agreed to help, but we need a proper shipyard to handle the deconstruction and reassembly. Could you perhaps lend us one of your airship factories?”

“Ummm, sure, no problem. Some of them were closed down after the war, we can lend you one of those.” Zuko responded.

“What do you intend to do with the secrets of this ship, Sokka?” Iroh asked, sounding concerned.

“Once we get anything useful out of it, we will share it with the rest of the world! Pecha would not even agree to help me otherwise.” Sokka said.

Pecha, when mentioned, looked at them and commented:

“I would prefer if my contribution was used to improve the lives of your planet’s inhabitants, rather than for warfare. I’ve seen too much of it back in my day.”

 ”Lending all of the knowledge to a singular nation is a potential war threat. Everyone else would suspect that nation of bad intentions, even if it did intend to share the stuff with the others.” Sokka added. “Therefore, we were planning to get everyone involved immediately. We are just not sure how to do it yet.”

“Just invite the engineers from all nations to the mentioned shipyard. It will be the cheapest option.” Mai commented.

“We will discuss this in greater detail in the palace. Pecha, can you get us over there? Do you know how to get to the capital?” Zuko said.

“I already know where it is. Give me a moment.”

With these words, Pecha left the central chamber.

Soon, the entire group felt a sharp pull, as the vessel started to move: first vertically, and then horizontally. Zuko assumed that it was now heading towards the capital city of the Fire Nation.

 

* * *

 

The lucid dream has come to an end. Katara could now get up and prepare for the trip to the South Pole, that they were planning to take with Sokka. She was looking forward to meeting her father and grandmother, after all this time away from home.

And then Katara opened her eyes.

Welcomed by the unfamiliar violet ceiling with some stone arrangements, Katara was forced to accept reality: they were now on Beerus’s world, about to begin their new training. Everything that happened the day before was not a dream.

Katara slowly got up. She looked at the second bed. Aang was not there, probably having gotten up earlier.

As she moved around, her aura appeared again. Soft and warm feeling enveloped her, and a white fire-mist started floating lazily around her body. Katara just sighed at it, as it restored some of her memories of the previous day.

She then noticed a set of clothes at the foot of the bed. Given that she was feeling quite dirty after a few days without a bath, she decided to keep them for later. However, she could not resist giving them a closer look.

It was a typical martial arts uniform with an included undershirt and shin-high shoes. It was similar to the clothes worn by Bulla and Pan. The colouring of the entire set made her think of Water Tribe, with blue and white shades being the dominating colours. After a closer inspection, it seemed to match her size.

Katara left the clothes where they were, wondering how did Whis stumble upon a perfect set of training gear for her. Happy to think about anything that was not yesterday, she got up from the bed and walked out of the room.

Aang was standing near the door, apparently waiting for her. He appeared lost in thought, staring at the floor. When he spotted her, he brightened up and spoke:

“Good morning, sweetie. Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, I think.” Now thinking about it, Katara could not recall any dreams from this night. “How long were you up?”

“An hour or so. I was waiting here for you.” He said.

“An hour? Dear, you should have woken me up.”

“Don’t worry about it. You really needed some rest after yesterday. Besides, I caught a bath in the meanwhile. You should check the bathhouse out, that place is incredible.” He smiled and pointed down the corridor.

“I will, Aang, I think I badly need a visit there anyway. Thank you.” She said, and gave him a kiss on the cheek, smiling.

“Good morning, lovebirds.” Could be heard behind them.

Toph left her own room and walked towards them. Katara noticed that the earthbender was also surrounded by an aura.

“I still can’t put this smoke out. I tried to think of it as bending my own body, but all I did was to ruffle it up. Aang, you figured it out, can you tell us what to do?”

“Well…” Aang “I was taught by a lion turtle how to bend Chi, so I am not sure how to explain it. But let’s try: Chi is a bit like a sun inside of you. However, its energy flows through your body like a river. The stronger that sun, the more energy in that river. It grows if you tense up or concentrate, or if you feel strongly about something. So, to calm it down, you need to relax and release the tension. You had a right idea about trying to bend it, but you will have to feel it a little bit better before you can do that.”

“Release the tension… Easy for you to say…” Katara murmured.

Toph just breathed in and closed her eyes, looking focused. After a moment, the aura around her weakened a bit.

“Hey, something happened!” Toph said. “Did it change?”

“Yes, it did. Good job, Toph!” Aang responded. As he looked at the aura, he noticed something else. “By the way, why do you wear shoes?”

“Oh, they dull down my earth sense. Once our Chi was released, I could see this entire world all at once. It was kind of dazzling. Now it feels more like it used to.”

“Oh, I remember. So that’s why you freaked out so much yesterday.” Aang said.

“Mhm, and speaking of freaking out, did anyone notice that me and Katara firebent?”

Katara recalled her battle from the day before.

“Yeah, I did send a lot of fire at that Bulla girl. Don’t ask me how though. Where did it even come from?”

“It sort of grew behind you when you were screaming at her.” Toph responded. “I did some fire when I tried to lift a rock.” She paused here. “Do you know how it is possible, Aang?”

“From what I know, humans need enough spiritual Chi and enough natural attunement with an element to bend it. While a human could perhaps attune to other elements, like Iroh did with waterbending, they would still need to have the appropriate Chi in high enough amount to actually interact with it.”

“Chi paths.” Katara added. She recalled her healing lessons from the North Pole “Humans have chi paths that allow them to bend. To use different ones, they would have to be able to bend their own energy, the way Aang did with Ozai.”

“But since we have more Chi now than any human ever did, we can now use all of them?” Toph asked.

“Maybe. It’s a bit weird that we would have them in the first place. Maybe the release of the sealing spell opened them up?” Katara was trying to figure it out herself.

“However it happened, the result is the same: we will be learning how to bend more elements.” Toph said. “I wonder If I can airbend or waterbend too.”

“Maybe.” Aang commented. “If so, then I will be glad to give you some airbending lessons.”

“Hey there, guys!” A voice could be heard down the corridor.

Everyone turned around. The owner of the voice was Pan. She walked towards them, accompanied by Bulla and Whis.

“Good morning, everybody.” the former said.

“Did you sleep well?” Whis added.

All three of them reacted to Whis’s question with a nod. Then, Katara frowned. The blue haired girl’s behaviour from yesterday did not leave a good impression on her. However, this time, Bulla had a more pleasant expression. She walked over to the group and said:

“I am afraid that we have not been properly introduced to each other. My name is Bulla Vegeta Briefs, the Princess of all Saiyans. This here is my underling, Pan Son. It is nice to…”

Bulla was interrupted by Toph’s chuckle. Bulla frowned, looking at her, albeit still smiling.

“Please tell me, what is so amusing to you?”

“How about your name?” Toph responded. “Vegeta Briefs, pffff.” She exploded into an open laugh in here.

“Oh, is that so?” Bulla asked, threat creeping in her voice. “And what is your name, if I may ask?”

“Toph Beifong, heir to the wealthiest family in the Earth Kingdom and the greatest earthbender in the world. These two lovebirds here are Katara and Aang. He is the Avatar and she is his girlfriend as well as his waterbending master.”

“Nice to meet you two.” Bulla said. Pan just waved at them, smiling innocently. Then she moved closer to Katara and Aang.

“Watch this part, this is going to be great.” She said, clearly amused. Katara was not very enthusiastic about heeding Pan’s words, but before she managed to say anything, Bulla spoke, looking at Toph:

“And as for you: I demand satisfaction for laughing at my family’s name.”

“Demand what?” Aang asked, looking baffled. Pan was quick to respond:

“In Bulla’s language it means a beat-up.” She was smiling.

“Sure, Princess Veggie Pants” Toph seemed to perfectly understand what Bulla meant. “Whenever you are ready.”

“How about right now.” Bulla said, smiling maliciously.

“Actually, we will be heading to your world now, Toph. I would rather prefer if you leave this fight for later. You will have plenty of time for battle later, during you training.” Whis chimed in, smiling.

Katara and the others dropped their jaws, while Bulla just said “Pff, party pooper…”

“Wait, I thought that we will be staying here for a few weeks, why are we going back so soon?”

“Oh, I bet that Whis found some delicious treat on your world.” Pan said, smiling.

“Indeed, I did. Oh, when I am thinking about all of those new types of fruit tarts…” His tone was rising as he spoke, sounding almost like a squeak “I just cannot stop myself! Ooohh….” He swam away for a moment with a dreamy expression, apparently imagining said fruit tarts. He then calmed down a bit, and added: “I was on top of that under the impression that you wanted to return soon to talk about something with the Fire Lord… Zuko, if I remember? So, while I get around to try the tarts with mr Iroh…” He chuckled here a bit. “You can deal with your issue in the meanwhile. So how is it? Going with me today? You can do it some other day as well, I think I will be visiting your world quite often.”

Aang was beaming.

“We would love to! Thank you very much, mr Whis.”

“Well, that takes a lot of tension away.” Toph commented. Her aura seemed to agree, dispersing almost completely.

Katara agreed in her mind. The knowledge that they could visit their world back earlier and more often than she thought was quite relieving.

“Oh, can we go with you?” Pan asked, looking excited. “I would love to see a new planet!”

“Umm, sure. Come along with us, we will show you around.” Katara responded.

“Yay!” Pan exclaimed.

“Let’s go then. I am a bit curious myself as of how your world looks like.” Bulla said.

“Wait, hold on.” Katara suddenly thought of something. “I don’t want you fighting Toph with all of those super-powers while we are there.”

“Relax, Katara, we will return to our disagreement once we get back. For now, it will be a truce. Right Toph?”

“Yeah, wouldn’t want to break Zuko’s palace or something. Unless I do it by accident.” Toph said, smiling.

“That does not calm me much…” Katara said with a worried tone.

“Come on now everybody, we are heading for the balcony and then off-world.” Whis said, moving down the corridor.

Everyone followed him. After passing a few doors, they arrived at a crossing. One of the paths led them to the mentioned balcony.

“You all know the drill.” Whis said, as Katara and the others gathered around him, forming two groups. After a moment, the familiar white light enveloped them, and they departed to the Avatar’s homeworld.

 

* * *

 

Zuko walked down a ramp that extended from the ship’s opened lower hatch.

First to leave was Appa, who appeared to be quite relieved to be finally able to leave that metal contraption. Momo was lying on top of his head, looking quite disinterested in the ordeal.

Ursa and her family left afterwards, heading towards the palace, being escorted by a half of the guards that travelled with them. Zuko ordered the Kyoshi warriors and the remaining soldiers to watch over the ship. Pecha appointed himself as the temporary leader of the ship guardians, to make sure that they cover all sensitive areas and also do not touch anything dangerous while inside.

People remaining on the front yard included him, Sokka, Iroh and Mai, as well as Suki and Ty Lee.

“Soo…” Sokka started, sounding uncertain. “We kind of have a lot to tell you, Zuko. A lot of things happened yesterday. Aang, Katara and Toph are already dealing with it. Buuut… I kind of want to keep it a secret between us, so…” He faced the three girls. “Could you guys go and guard the ship or something?”

“Why won’t you share that secret with us as well?” Suki reacted, sounding surprised “I want to know what Aang and the others are up to.”

“You were pushing this away during the entire flight, you could at least tell us how you got that spaceship or something.” Ty Lee added.

“Ah, forget it girls.” Mai commented, sounding exasperated. “Clearly we are not worthy enough to be let in on the Fire Lord’s secrets.”

“Mai, it’s not like that, I don’t even know myself what’s going on.” Zuko said to her. “If Sokka has a reason to keep it a secret even from Suki, it must be something dangerous.”

“Well, if that’s the case, then I want to know what’s up even more.” Suki reacted, facing both Sokka and Zuko. “If you guys are in trouble, I want to help.”

“Ummm… I am not sure if this can be called trouble, but then again, it kind of is… It’s complicated, okay? Aang and the others are fine, they are just…”

“Sokka, it is alright to tell your friends about something that worries you.” Iroh commented. “We should not keep each other in the dark. If you are interested in the issue, my ladies, we will be glad to explain the problem.”

“Are you sure?” Sokka commented. “It is kind of scary…”

“Oh, if it’s a scary story than I want to hear it!” Ty Lee chimed in.

“This doesn’t make any sense. You tell us that Aang, Katara and Toph are away on some secret mission and that they are fine, but it is a scary story?” Mai commented.

“It’s not that kind of scary. It’s more like… something that you really do not want to remember but still have to live with it… You know, the bad kind of scary.” Sokka responded.

“We have been put in a very difficult situation.” Iroh added. “I do believe that you three can keep it a secret, but please remember that it should be kept away from the public knowledge.”

“Well, I am certain that Mai and Suki can keep it a secret. If uncle and Sokka agree, we will let you in on the matter.” Zuko said.

Mai just grunted hearing that. Ty Lee in the meanwhile commented: “Hey, what about me?”

“Well, you are kind of a gossip…” Zuko responded, sounding uncertain.

“Hey, I do not chatter about state secrets, thank you very much!” She frowned here. Then she brightened up and added: “Mai’s new boyfriend is a better gossip topic anyway.”

Mai got completely dumbfounded by this sudden revelation. Zuko assumed that he looked the same as her.

“That’s… some interesting news…” Iroh commented, sounding uncomfortable. Then he composed himself and said: “We will discuss all the details inside. I will arrange…”

A white beam of light suddenly struck the yard a couple meters away from them. A small shockwave followed. Zuko found himself readying for battle instantly and saw most of his friends do the same. Only Iroh did not assume a fighting stance, instead looking puzzled.

However, once the light subsided, Zuko dropped his jaw.

Aang emerged from the light, followed by Katara and Toph. Behind them stood a pale blue man with a circle levitating around his head. There were two teenage girls next to him that Zuko never saw before. One of them, for some reason, had a bright blue hair. The two girls were looking around with curiosity.

“Hey everyone! It’s so good to see you!” Aang shouted, as he ran towards Sokka and Zuko.

Said everyone looked absolutely shocked at this sudden appearance, with the exception of Iroh and Sokka.

“Wait, how did you get back here so fast? I thought it’s going to be a couple of weeks before you learn how to return.” Sokka said.

“It turns out that Whis wants to visit our world every now and again to get a snack here, and we can tag along with him.” Aang responded.

“Wow, can anyone explain what is going on right now?” Mai commented, mouth still gaping open.

“It’s part of our secret thing.” Sokka commented. “Hey, Whis, can we let in a couple of friends on the issue?”

“Of course. It is your responsibility to handle it well after all.” The blue man was the one called Whis apparently.

“Oh, right, we should introduce our guests. Iroh, Sokka, you already know Whis.” Aang said, pointing at him. Whis just responded: “Hello everyone, it’s nice to meet you.”

“And those are our two new guests, Pan and Bulla. They came with us here as tourists.” Aang then pointed at the two girls.

“Hey there” and “Greetings” came from Pan and Bulla respectively.

“Aang, why didn’t you mention Bulla’s surname?” Toph asked, looking particularly malicious. “It is quite a marvel to hear after all.”

“Shut up, vermin, or I will shove you into the local Sun.” Bulla reacted.

“Jeez, fine, don’t get cranky, princess Veggie Pants.”

Bulla shot her a glare that could bring down even the mightiest men to their knees. Katara turned around and glared at them, looking annoyed herself.

“Guys, remember, no fighting until we get back to Beerus’s world.”

“Of course, Katara.” Bulla responded, still glaring at Toph. “Unlike this ruffian, I know how to maintain my manners in a decent company.”

“Uggh, okay, let’s focus on the issue at hand.” Katara turned around back to Zuko and the others. “What are you all doing here together?”

“Me and Pecha kind of met Zuko as he travelled home, turns out that he was about to be attacked by some masked guys, but then everyone else here kind of expected the attack and came in to help him, but I was sort of already there with a spaceship and scared the attackers away, and now we were about to explain everything to everyone.” Sokka said.

“Let us all head for the palace. I will arrange for some meals for everyone and we can…” Iroh started.

He was not allowed to finish, yet again. As he spoke, an elderly man approached the group, leading a bunch of what appeared to be Fire Nation noblemen. Zuko recognised him as Ukano, Mai’s father and a prominent Fire Nation politician.

“Fire Lord, you are finally here. The citizens were greatly disturbed by your sudden appearance on this weird airship. On top of that, this beam of light scared us all. Could you perhaps let us in on what is going on?”

Zuko was uncertain how to react. Between the alien spaceship, this whole issue that Sokka and Iroh were on about and the sudden appearance of Aang, Whis and others, he did not even know what to say. Fortunately, Aang decided to chime in.

“This weird airship and that beam of light carried visitors from another world. We have important issues to discuss with them that the Fire Lord needs to be aware of.” He paused here.

“I have been already let in on the matter of this flying vessel.” Zuko took over from here. “It contains technology vastly superior to anything so far invented in our world. We will discuss how to extract it and how to share it with the other nations. As for the other matters, I did not have a chance to learn of them as of now. Once I know what’s going on, I will issue a public announcement to the entire capital.”

“If this is something that concerns the Fire Nation as a whole, you should let your advisers and noblemen in on the conversation.” Ukano responded. “Including myself. We should be aware of any important decision-making taking place.”

“I have to understand the situation myself first, Ukano.” Zuko was slowly growing impatient. “I have been told that there is some sensitive information involved. Again, once everything is clear, I will let everyone in on the conclusions.”

“You hear that, people? The Fire Lord would rather discuss the state secrets with outsiders and teenagers, rather than his own loyal followers.” Ukano suddenly turned towards the other noblemen. “And on top of that, he wishes to share the new technology from that mysterious vessel with them, rather than use it to strengthen our nation.”

The people behind him started growling and shouting things at random. Mai just glared at her father, and murmured: “Jeez, dad, thank you for trusting me so much.”

“Somebody is clearly rousing the citizens up. I guess it’s a form of a protest against Mr Fire Lord over here. Just how did he know when to arrive?” Pan commented, looking at Zuko.

“He could see that ship coming, I presume. He riles me up.” Bulla spoke, looking disgusted.

“Hey!” Sokka suddenly shouted. “Just so it is clear, the ship and its tech is ‘outsiders’ to begin with! If anything, we are sharing it with you guys. And if you are suddenly going to pretend that it’s yours now, we will withdraw from here completely and give it to the Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom. You know, as we planned to do anyway!”

Ukano just grunted, apparently not knowing how to respond to it. The people behind them calmed down, knowing that they did not want this scenario to occur.

“On top of that, the issues brought forth by the alien visitors are important to all nations equally. The ‘outsiders’, as you just so politely called us, should be in fact all let in everything. Your nation gets almost as many representatives on the matters as all the other nations taken together. And they are not just ‘teenagers’: they are all noble men and women of the Fire Nation.” Katara was getting angry too.

“Oh, really? And what about these two?“ Ukano pointed at Pan and Bulla ”They are not Fire Nation. I also do not even remember them being ever acquainted to the Fire Lord. Is our leader now letting in complete strangers on the state issues?”

“We actually are the aliens.” Pan decided to speak out loud. “You know, the visitors from another world? We are not the core of the problem that was spoken about, but…”

“What nonsense is that? You look just like some random kids. I assumed that this man was an alien, given his unusual looks, but you?” Ukano was now looking more and more irritated. Zuko assumed that the conversation was not going his way, especially given Katara’s and Sokka’s involvement.

“Well, we are kids, but that’s…” Pan wanted to talk back to him, but then was curb-stomped by something. Frankly, Zuko noticed what it was before she did.

Bulla walked towards Ukano, looking absolutely livid. Even though she still maintained a small mean smile, her eyes were now ablaze with anger. All the noblemen that looked at her were cowering in fear, their mouths opening and their faces losing colour.

The reason for their fear was not just her expression though. As she walked, a weird white light arose around her, making her look as if she was a core of a large flame.

“We are the aliens.” She spoke, strongly emphasising ‘are’. “And frankly, I was getting tired of you minions squabbling. Do you need any more proof?”

As she said that, she suddenly lifted off from the ground, levitating. Then, the white fire exploded in all directions, covering a wide area around the palace. It did not harm anything though, but rather, envelop and illuminate anything it touched.

“Be good citizens and listen to your Fire Lord’s request: leave and wait for his official summary of the talks.”

Ukano, despite his fear, looked as if he wanted to say something else. However, all of his followers took Bulla’s words as a clear threat and left in a rush. Seeing that, he followed them, practically running away. After they were gone, Bulla landed and made them flames disappear.

“Well, that was a little bit extreme” Zuko commented, feeling fearful at this strange power showdown. He also saw the others looking worried too. “But thank you.”

“You are most welcome. Frankly, any form of dissidents annoys me.” Bulla responded. “By the way, are we actually included in said talks of yours?”

“Well…” Zuko did not know what to respond. He did not know anything about her as of yet apart from her being an alien tourist and having weird powers.

“Oh, please please please!” Pan suddenly flared up with excitement. “I wanna know what you guys were all on about!”

“There shouldn’t be any issue with that, if you are worried.” Whis suddenly spoke, looking at Aang. “These two girls are trustworthy and on top of that adept in maintaining secrecy.”

“Indeed. And even if you will not let us, Pan will most likely find a way to reveal your secrets.” Bulla commented.

“If you say so.” Aang said, looking at Pan with worry. Zuko knew what the Avatar was thinking about: Pan looked as if she was the least likely person to ever keep a secret. He was feeling more trusting of the levitating white fire girl Bulla, and that was saying something.

“Oh, look. I guess we are inviting a second you.” Mai spoke, sounding broody but also somewhat amused, looking at Ty Lee. The mentioned girl only grunted and turned away.

“Well then, I will just get on with the arrangements.” Iroh was finally allowed to finish his thought. “Sokka, lead everyone to the same dining hall as the last time.”

“Right away. Everyone, follow me!” Sokka exclaimed, walking into the gate of the palace. Zuko stayed behind him, wondering which hall they were heading into.

 

* * *

 

Ukano was curled up on his knees in the middle of an empty room, trembling and holding his head with both arms.

His mission, as dictated to him by the Kemurikage spirits, was to rouse up an uprising against the Fire Lord Zuko and bring him down from the throne. Said spirits were about to officially reveal their presence by performing a kidnapping of a number of small children. Should he succeed, the children would be returned to their families, and should he not, they would be gone for good.

When this message was conveyed to him for the first time, Ukano had mixed feelings about this. While a threat to the children was a horrible thing, the fact that the spirits themselves despised Zuko’s behaviour was somewhat reassuring. He did not approve of the policies that the new Fire Lord has followed so far and neither he accepted the imprisonment of the old Fire Lord Ozai. The spirits’ appearance has given him a feeling of righteousness and certainty in his cause.

He had sincere hope that the path he followed was the correct one.

And then, that hope was grinded into dust. Fire Lord Zuko suddenly gained the support of the visitors from another world. One of them even terrorized Ukano himself directly. It was not just the levitation or the white fire that was scary. He felt an immense pressure, as if something was about to literally crush him, as he stared into those fiery eyes back then.

And right before that, the aliens that arrived on that space vessel apparently allied themselves with Fire Lord friends, giving him no point of negotiation. Instead of demanding to keep the ship’s technology for the interest of the Fire Nation, he had to beg for it.

And that was right after he has failed to even perform a successful attempt at Zuko’s life. Said ship was used an hour earlier directly against him, protecting the carriage Zuko travelled in. And then, the ship took the Fire Lord directly to the capital, rendering a few of his backup plans of further ambushes completely useless.

All of this taken together made Ukano absolutely terrified about the concept of another meeting with the evil spirits. The children’s life was not the only thing at stake here. The spirits also warned him that they would be taking away everything that he held dear should he fail. And he did not want to find out what they meant by that.

As soon as he thought about them again, he heard something moving behind him.

He was too scared to actually get up and look around. He only managed to lift his head up a little.

Just to look directly in the eye of the demon right above him.

“You disappoint us, Ukano.” The spirit hissed. “You will suffer for your failure this time…”

Ukano felt as if he was about to lose his sanity. He started to cover in fear and squeak random thoughts out loud.

“Please… I could not do anything… The ship… the lights… the eyes… I thought I will die… there was so much evil behind them… We could not do anything… the aliens… the lights… the ship… Fire everywhere…”

The spirit froze. It did not respond for a good minute or so.

And then, after what felt as an eternity, the demon rose its hands to its head. As it was removing its hood and taking off the mask, it spoke:

“Your babbling would not make any sense to us… if we did not see those lights and that ship ourselves.”

The hood and mask were gone. Two fiery eyes stared at him intensely. He recognised them.

He thought for a moment that they looked even more insane now than they did the last time he saw them.

Fire Nation’s princess Azula was kneeling over him.

“Tell me exactly what happened and what you saw. In as much detail as possible.”

 

* * *

 

Toph was getting bored out a bit.

Zuko and the others were introduced to Beerus’s challenge during that meeting.

Whilst naturally worried, they did not appear to be as distressed about the whole ordeal as the chosen trio was. Probably because they did not see either Pegra or Beerus, and they haven’t been threatened with destruction twice, Toph thought.

Zuko offered his palace up as a rendezvous point. He also offered Whis any number of tasty treats from the royal kitchen. This would ensure that the angel would come in frequently and stick around for at least an hour per visit, allowing Toph and others to visit their world more often during the first few weeks of their training. Mai, Suki and Ty Lee offered to teach Toph and others their respective martial arts.

Bulla and Pan listened to the whole ordeal with curiosity. While Pan kept asking questions about anything and everything that was talked about, Bulla was mostly silent. After the discussion shifted into Sokka’s favourite issue though, she spaced out a bit as well.

Said issue regarded the fate of the spaceship. Sokka devised a plan to disassemble, copy and then reassemble the vessel in one of the Fire Nation’s shipyards. Zuko was keen to help out and to share the technology with the other nations. As he said, it was the least he could do to show some good will towards the world and restore the honour of his nation.

Toph was not very interested in a flying hunk of junk though. The issues of sharing it were also not hers to worry about, given that Sokka already knew her father, giving him a hook into the most advanced tech company in the Earth Kingdom.

She waited for the conversation to switch into a different topic.

Fortunately, her wish was about to be realised.

“So it’s settled!” Sokka loudly exclaimed. “I will now go and tell Pecha about all this. Anyone wants to go with me?”

“I will, unless there is something else that we need to discuss.” Suki responded. She looked at Zuko enquiringly.

“As a matter of fact, there is.” Zuko said. “I originally wanted to invite the Avatar here to discuss an issue of dark spirits roaming the capital.”

Both Sokka and Suki focused on him. Toph also concentrated more.

“Dark spirits? You mean, like, evil ghosts? What do they do, scare people at night, kidnap children, bring bad fortune?” Pan went on her excited question mode yet again.

“Pan, you already know that spirits from this world are not ghosts.” Bulla responded, with a slightly condescending tone “They rather serve as the local idols or guardians of nature. I do not imagine that they would be partaking in such silly activities.”

“Actually, it is not that inaccurate.” Zuko said. “Those particular spirits are called Kemurikage. When they first appeared in the Fire Nation, they actually did kidnap children. They did so as a punishment on aggressive warlords that used to rule Fire Nation lands. The spirits wanted to show their disapproval for all the bloodshed the warlords caused. When they ceased their warmongering and united under a single ruler, the spirits stopped tormenting them.”

“I do wonder why they would come back though.” Aang commented. “Two years ago, I would have said that’s because of the war, but we kind of stopped that one, so…”

“Hey, maybe Whis can find them!” Pan suggested. “If they are the same spirits as those good ones, then shouldn’t they have divine Chi?”

Everybody looked at the angel, sitting in a corner of the table and enjoying a tart. Upon hearing Pan’s words, he looked at them and said:

“Actually, I cannot sense any divine energy samples near the capital. Apart from the usual presence of the spirit world, that is. And no nearby spirits feel particularly hostile, be it in the surrounding area or the spirit world itself.”

“Maybe they are not spirits in the first place.” Bulla suddenly spoke. “What did they look like?”

“Umm, long dark robes with hoods, and black and white masks with round dark eye on the left and a cloud pattern on the right.” Zuko said.

Bulla stood up and walked over to Whis. “Can I borrow your staff for a moment?”

Whis just mumbled affirmatively, having taken another bite of his tart. He waved his spoon and his staff appeared in the air, causing a small gasp from the people who saw that for the first time.

Bulla grabbed it and spoke to it directly

“You heard him. Show us the Kemurikage.” The tone resembled a sergeant speaking to his troops. Toph almost expected the staff to salute, before complying to the request.

The staff displayed an image in the air (few more gasps this time), portraying six figures matching the description. They were standing in circle in a room with no windows in it.

“Show us the location.” Another command.

The image seemed to move away, piercing whatever ceiling was there and finally showing a large tomb in the middle of a cemetery. All burial sites over there were either large mausoleums or elaborate tombstones with multiple carvings.

“The Garden of Tranquil Souls!” Zuko exclaimed. The image stopped changing.

“The what garden?” Sokka asked.

“The royal family graveyard. Those spirits must be some bandits or dissidents in disguise. They probably built themselves a hideout over there.”

“Hey, let’s go after them!” Pan loudly exclaimed.

Everyone in the room looked at her.

“What, it sounds exciting! Bandits in a graveyard pretending to be dark spirits? I wanna go and catch them!”

“So do I. They may be related to those New Ozai rebels you were talking about ealier, and if that’s the case, I desire to put them down.” Bulla said.

“I am coming too, that’s why you summoned me to the Fire Nation after all.” Aang spoke.

“Thank you all.” Zuko said, smiling.

“Hey, no problem. Anyone else wants to tag along?” Aang asked.

Toph stood up. She had enough sitting around and listening to stories she was already a part of. Katara, Sokka, Ty Lee, Mai and Suki all followed her example.

“I’m actually going to the ship. You guys should be enough to deal with the fake spirits.” Sokka said.

“And I am going with Sokka.” Suki said. “We will set up some security around the shipyard. Ty Lee, would you go with us?”

“What? But I wanted to go after the bandits!” Ty Lee exclaimed.

“I would rather suggest that you do not.” Bulla said to her. “This task should be performed by the people with unsealed power levels. You would just drag us down.”

Ty Lee frowned and growled after hearing that. Mai looked at Bulla like at a cockroach and said:

“What a display of subtlety. Come on, let’s not get in the freaks’ way. I would rather do literally anything else anyway.” She grabbed Ty Lee by hand and left the hall into the corridor.

Katara stared at Bulla with a hostile expression. Everyone else looked somewhat uncomfortable.

“Anyway, we will be going. See ya guys later!” Sokka said and followed Mai’s path. Suki left with him.

A short pause.

“You could afford to be a little bit more delicate…” Pan said, smiling uncertainly.

“Yeah, no kidding.” Zuko said.

“I was speaking the truth. Besides, dealing with some thugs would be risky for anyone who is not one of us. What is the point of sending someone weak?”

“Strength is not just measured by the potency of your Chi, young lady.” Iroh said. “It’s never good to disregard people. They might be stronger than you in other ways, be it their knowledge, their abilities or their spirit.”

Bulla did not look very convinced but did not talk back to him either. In the end, she decided to say:

“I will take that into consideration. Now, which way to that graveyard?”

“Almost directly south from here, a mile or two, near the volcano wall.” Zuko answered.

“Then let’s get going. Move over to the garden everyone, me and Pan will carry you.” With these words, she went outside through the second door. Katara just sighed.

“Mr. Whis, is it alright if we go? I mean, we don’t know how long it will take...” Aang said.

“It’s fine, I am staying for at least a few hours anyway.” Whis responded cheerfully. “I still have plenty of these to go through.” He gestured slightly at the collection of sweets and desserts in front of him. “If the time to leave comes, I will contact you.”

“How…” Toph wanted to ask, but then Pan pulled out something out of a pocket.

It was a small orb with a circle levitating around it. It resembled the top of Whis’s staff, except smaller. “With this communicator. Bulla also has one. Come on, let’s go.”

“I will be here, if you need anything.” Whis added.

“Good luck with the search.” Zuko said. “If you need any help, let my uncle know. I will be in the throne hall for now. Fire Lord’s matters.”

“Okay. See you guys later!” Aang responded and left for the garden. Toph, Pan and Katara followed him outside.

Bulla was standing there, waiting. When they arrived, she gave them a bit annoyed look, and then said:

“Done over there? Then let us go. Any of you, grab my hand.”

“Hey, since when you can order us around?” Katara asked in a bit confrontational tone.

“Since figuring out a plan of approach. If you have any ideas yourself, then present them now.” Bulla responded.

“I think I know what it is.” Pan said. “Come on everybody, grab either me or Bulla. We will be at the graveyard in no time.”

Katara just grunted, walked over to Pan and took her hand. Aang followed her example. Toph approached Bulla instead.

“Hmm…. South… ah, there you go.”. Bulla looked at the sky as she spoke, in order to locate the sun.

“Wait, what is that plaaaan!” Toph wanted to ask her.

The moment all three of the were joined with the Saiyan girls, they did a huge leap over the palace buildings. Toph’s question turned into a scream when they were in the air. She was quite certain that this jump would tear away her arm if it was not for her released Chi.

“Wait, we should not be…” Katara could be heard shouting.

Before she finished that sentence, they were suddenly outside the palace’s outer wall, in a small street near two fancy houses. Pan and Bulla stopped jumping in this place, letting go of their passengers.

“…flying?” Katara finished uncertainly. She looked around, taxing nearby alleys with suspicion.

“I did not intend to do so. I just preferred to avoid the main palace gate. Our ‘spirits’ may have informants within the nobles or soldiers.” Bulla explained.

“We will go the rest of the way on foot. If we run or jump around super-fast, they will probably hear us coming.” Pan said.

“Okay. Hopefully nobody noticed us hopping over the roofs.” Toph said.

“Probably not, there were not many people around. I did not sense many energy signatures.” Pan added.

When hearing that term, Toph recalled the feelings she had when looking at Pan and Bulla. She noticed that after a few seconds of concentration, she could sort of feel the other powers in the city: much smaller than any of theirs, but still noticeable.

And there were almost no people throughout these alleys.

“Let’s move.” Aang said and entered a small path between two buildings.

As they walked, Toph had a chance to appreciate her newfound sight yet again. She could sense the various Fire Nation buildings before, but only now she could appreciate how vivid and lush their colours and details were. The multiple shades of red, orange, beige and gold mixing in with forever-green vegetation were giving this area an overall pleasant warm hue.

Absorbing the sights kept her busy until they got near an old moss-covered wall. Toph could sense that there were graves on the other side.

“Jumping over that one too?” Aang asked.

With these words, he boosted himself off the ground with an air spout.

“Wai…t” Bulla wanted to stop him, but Aang was already over the wall. “Huh. Not bad.”

“Wait, can I do this too…?” Katara said, as she looked at top of the wall. Bulla moved over to her and grabbed her hand.

“Better not, you do not control your Chi that well. Try too hard and you will fly over the volcano wall instead of this one.”

“Wait, I can…” Before she finished, Bulla jumped over the wall, carrying Katara over it.

Pan in the meanwhile grabbed Toph and followed suit with another jump.

Toph was quite certain that she wouldn’t be able to control her Chi either, therefore she did not say anything. The thought about jumping over the volcano baffled her. The edge of its wall appeared to be almost a mile away and a few hundred feet in the air.

_Could we really be this strong right now?_ She thought.

And then she touched down on the other end.

Aang was already moving silently between the graves, followed closely by Bulla and Katara. He was looking around, apparently trying to spot the tomb they were searching for.

There were a few large mausoleums in the area. Toph recalled the one they saw in Whis’s staff and managed to pinpoint it with her seismic sense.

“Right there.” She whispered, gesturing at it. It resembled a door leading to a covered staircase heading downwards. It stood out from all the other graves, given that they looked more like domes with a stele on top of each.

The team started moving towards it. However, now that she recognised the structure, she paid attention to what was underneath.

It was not the only tunnel in the area, but it was definitely the largest. It included said staircase, an earthy corridor and a large chamber sealed off by a metal door. However, it was missing the one and only thing Toph cared about: someone alive inside.

“There is nobody there!” She whispered. Everyone else looked at her.

“Wait, how do you…” Pan started.

“The earth sense thing. It was mentioned during the meeting, Pan.” Bulla interrupted her.

“Oh, right, I remember now.” Pan paused for a moment. “Makes sense. Now that you said that, I cannot feel anyone inside either. We should be able to do it at this point, even if they are concealing their power.”

“They probably cannot either way. Our precious 'spirits' must have left before we arrived.” Bulla said.

“Well, we would be here earlier if you didn’t waste our time insulting Ty Lee and Mai.” Katara said angrily.

“I did not want to pay attention to their health and safety while chasing potentially dangerous criminals. The five of us are pretty much invulnerable to everything that the local populace can throw at us. Besides, you wasted time pointlessly arguing about it.”

“Excuse me? So it is my fault now?” Katara was growing angrier. “And besides, if you are oh-so-powerful, couldn’t you…”

Toph ceased to pay attention to this banter. The way she recognised the mausoleum, the vivid image of the fake spirits in her head as well as her experience of sensing Beerus’s planet gave her an idea.

She sat down, making sure to not touch the ground with her bare skin, and crouched her legs upwards. She ended up rolling over on her back, fortunately, the clothes and her hair prevented contact with the earth. She wanted to strictly concentrate before actually touching it.

Her actions stopped others from talking. They all looked at her baffled, as she started to take off her shoes.

“What are you doing right now?” Bulla asked.

“I think I can sense these people from a large distance, if I concentrate hard enough. Last time I was barefoot with Chi unlocked, I saw that entire temple-world at once. It was pretty crazy, but I managed to function more or less normally when I was focused on something.”

Her shoes were off. “If I focus on the shape of those fake spirits, I should be able to find them without fainting or going insane.”

Katara looked concerned. Then, she suddenly brightened up and looked at Pan. “Help me to lift her up. Make sure her feet do not touch the earth.”

And so they did. Toph did not protest, realising what Katara was thinking about. Once Toph was in a vertical position, she focused on two things: keeping her Chi calm and the shapes of the Kemurikage impostors. After a few seconds, she said:

“Okay, put me down now.”

The moment her feet touched the ground, she felt the familiar influx of images in her head. The cemetery around them, the city, the volcano, the lower city. But it did not stop there. Then there was the jungle around the mountain, with numerous roads reaching out from the lower city, then multiple villages and a few other cities. Plains, forests, hills, rivers, waterfalls: it was all flickering in her head. She noticed that her aura appeared around her again.

After a moment, she was quite certain that she just sensed the entire Fire Nation.

And not only that. Her vision was also reaching out under the ocean as well as deep into the Earth, in what felt like an ever-expanding circle.

She felt dizzy soon after. Second later, the entire image moved a bit, turning dizzy into nauseous. She realised that she has moved involuntarily.

“Toph, is everything okay?” she felt Katara’s hands on her own, preventing her from falling down. She was also held by Pan from the other side.

“Think about these spirits. You said you can focus on them. Dark robes, black and white masks with one eye.” Bulla said.

This short description did help her to recall her original target. As she summoned the image of a Kemurikage in her head, she suddenly realised that there was in fact six of them around.

“I see them!” Toph loudly exclaimed. The focus on the evil spirits (which she could clearly recognise by now to be people in masks), allowed her to ignore the fact that her seismic sense was now approaching the Earth Kingdom’s shores.

She saw them very clearly. Six shadows, lurking around the streets, avoiding visual contact with any other humans. She realised that apart from their shapes she also clearly sensed their Chi.

Pan and Katara were still holding her up, but they were not looking as worried as before.

“Okay. Here is what we are going to do. First: can you walk?” Bulla asked.

“Give her some space, for cryin…” Katara started talking, but then Toph just walked forward one step, moving away from the hands holding her. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Okay. Now, I want you to grab my hand and run over to where one of them is. Once you get there, don’t do anything. The rest of you, follow us, but do not engage either. I will take care of attacking.”

“What, are you worried that we are too weak to knock someone out?” Katara asked in a condescending tone.

Bulla just smiled maliciously.

“The opposite. If you run over to them too fast and strike, you will turn them into a bloody splash. You do not control your strength well enough for a combination of fast movement and pressure point attack.”

Katara just stayed silent with an open mouth. One of her eyes was ticking. Aang smiled uncomfortably, grabbed her hand and said: “We will be right behind you.”

“Good. Now, Toph, ready?”

Toph was getting psyched up as she listened. She was looking forward to try and use her Chi for something that was not sensing everything up to Ba Sing Se and about the half of the Great Ocean.

“Of course.”

“Perfect.” Bulla took her hand and shouted: “GO!”.

Toph leaped forward, aiming straight at one of the Kemurikage.

And she quickly realised her mistake. There was a bunch of stuff in the way, that she specifically worked to ignore with her seismic sense. However, her eyes were still working, and right now they suggested that she was about to hit the cemetery wall with an incredible speed.

She barely felt that. The wall just exploded away from her path, pieces hitting the road and also a nearby house. She decided it that would be the best to stop and adjust her path. Before she managed to do so, she collided with said house.

Its wall also exploded away, albeit with much less force. It revealed a Fire Nation family that was interrupted from enjoying a Pai-Sho game.

“What is the meaning of this!” An elderly man screamed. The rest of the family just stared at them mindlessly. “You just ruined my most elaborate strategy of Three Dancing Roses!”

“Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!” Toph exclaimed, jumping away from the hole and landing on the road again. She saw Aang running in to the place where she stood before. When he reached it, he said:

“Apologies, sir, we went a little bit overboard with bending! We are on the chase after a group of criminals!”

Bulla in the meanwhile spoke to Toph (she held onto her the whole time):

“Could you perhaps exert some effort to avoid obstacles like these? Unless you enjoy bringing forth some destruction that is. I never say no to some decent carnage.”

“Cut me some slack, princess, I started to use my eyes like yesterday.”

“Ah, that. You did indeed mention it during the talks. Well, give it another go then.”

Toph just grunted and looked around. She was scared to stop concentrating on the Kemurikage. She was now quite certain that she was standing on a gigantic orb. She already knew that the Earth was round and she was sometimes even capable of sensing its curvature in the past, but the vision of the entire planet at once was at the very least spooky.

If she allowed the entirety of it to get into her head, she would definitely go insane.

She therefore focused on the same person again, as well as on trying to get a grasp of her surroundings. Then, she jumped again.

This time however it went more smoothly. Toph discovered that she could react in time to all obstacles in her way almost regardless of her speed. After a few sharp turns, they were in the front of the impostor spirit. Bulla disengaged from her and chopped them right on the neck

Toph slowed down to stop, as instructed. She then noticed that the person in question appeared frozen in time. They were apparently walking, given the position of their legs and the current shape of their robes.

However, once Toph was fully immobile, the time seemed to have resumed. And the fake spirit fell to the ground.

“One down, five more to go.” Bulla said, breaking this trail of thought.

“Ummm, yeah.” Toph wanted to ask about what she just saw, but then the rest of the group blitzed in. She almost jumped when that happened, as they resembled a ball of white fire that sounded like something between a thunder and a whip. A powerful gust of wind followed the ball as it stopped and dispersed into thin air, revealing her friends.

“Hello there.” Bulla said, turning back to them. “If you were so kind as to put this impostor in some form of binding, I would be much obliged. He should be awake in a few minutes. We will jump to the next one in the meanwhile and wait for you there.”

Katara just nodded and reached for her water pouch. The white aura arose around her. Aang, seeing this, grabbed her hand and said:

“Maybe I will do the binding. You know... I'm better at controlling my Chi.”

“Oh, you’re right.” Katara noticed her aura and flinched a bit. “Okay, there you go.”

As he was encasing this person in a block of earth, Bulla turned to Toph.

“Okay, shall we go again?”

Toph nodded and prepared for another jump.

“Oh, wait!” Pan stopped them, looking excited. “Can I do the striking now?”

“It’s not that exciting, my dear. One delicate chop and it’s over.” Bulla said.

“Oh, come on, let me go. Let’s swap between targets, okay?”

Bulla grew a bit irritated. “Oh well, fine. If you want it to take ages that is.”

“There shouldn’t be that much of a difference. Pan will have to wait for us just as you did.” Aang mentioned. Bulla just grunted and said nothing.

“Okay!” Pan walked over to Toph as Bulla moved away. “Lead the way!”

Toph concentrated on her next target. From what she saw with her eyes, there were a bunch of people in the streets between them and the next impostor. She decided to go a bit slower this time.

She hopped between the two buildings, danced a bit among the frozen-in-time pedestrians and then entered another alley. For a moment she was worried that Pan might hit someone mid-flight, but her passenger was making a conscious effort to avoid all obstacles. They entered another street, went along it for a little while and then turned into a small pathway. Once they were near the second ‘spirit’, Pan moved a bit faster and chopped them in the neck, just as Bulla did.

And then Toph stopped again, time resuming. Plenty of people stared at them from the adjacent street, appearing distressed. Toph was not surprised. She knew what she and Pan must have looked like to them. Her aura was still raging wildly around her.

She broke her concentration for a moment and got flooded with a lot of useless data about the entire planet. Toph could swear that she felt a cricket on a blade of grass somewhere south of the great swamp in the Earth Kingdom before she regained her focus.

As she was thinking about it, waiting for Aang and the others to arrive (she saw them stop mid-jump and walk towards her), her gaze met another. She realised that she stared into fiery gold eyes. They belonged to another girl, slightly older than her, with long jet-black hair spread loose over what looked like a casual every-day Fire Nation outfit. It was a bit similar to what Toph wore herself during her days in hiding in this land. The girl’s eyes were opened a bit wider than most of the others. A second later, the girl walked away out of Toph’s sight. A few other citizens followed her example, leaving some space for Katara, Aang and Bulla to move over.

 

* * *

 

“Will you be alright by yourself? Without any disguise?” Zirin asked.

“I told you already, this is my disguise. No makeup, loose hair and commoner’s outfit is not exactly how most of the nation remembers me. And once I get near the people that might, I will just hide and use this.”

Azula showed her comrade a mask for covering the mouth.

“Just go.”  She said. “I know these shipyards like my own house. Nobody can find me there if I don’t want them to.”

Azula paused here. It was time to go.

“Meet you back at the grave…”

They heard a distant thud. Azula looked around. Nothing that she could see. However, she had a feeling that it came from the direction of the graveyard.

“On second thought, go to the harbour city, south of the shipyards. The rightmost dock near the shore, the abandoned one. Let the others know.”

She then moved away slightly.

“You think that was…” Zirin started.

“We will find out later.” Azula said in a discussion-ending tone.

At this moment they heard another blast somewhere in the distance, but much fainter and in a different direction.

Azula started walking towards the street, trying to appear as casual as possible. It was not that difficult. This was a trading district, where commoners and nobles were often mixing up at random, without paying much attention to one another.

This was a perfect place for her to move around unmasked. If anything, her unusual beauty combined with the lower-class clothes would suggest that she is either a daughter or a student of some richer merchant. She was walking around the city a few times like this already and found out that nearly nobody even looked at her, safe for some enamoured teenagers.

While she was thinking about all this, she heard a weak voice behind her.

“Be careful.”

It was a bit distorted, coming from behind the Kemurikage mask, but Azula could still hear some concern in the voice. It was amusing how easy it was for her to win over the loyalty of these people. They were imprisoned together with her in the same mental hospital. Azula freed them and convinced them to join her cause.

She turned her head around, smiling, and responded softly:

“I always am.”

She then walked out of the alley and turned right.

Everything shook, as a loud blast thundered through the street. Azula was almost blown off her feet. She saw something white and blurry pass near her in the corner of her eye.

Some of the people around her actually fell to the ground. A few that still stood looked fearfully into the alley that she just left.

Azula also looked at it after the shock of this blast wore out.

Two new people stood there now. One of them was a girl in a weird martial arts outfit that resembled a mixture of airbender and firebender clothing. She had black eyes and long black hair in a ponytail. She was looking at Zirin, who laid unconscious on the ground.

The second girl was turned away from her. She was dressed in a similar style to her companion, but her clothes were beige and green. She was surrounded by what looked like a white half-transparent flame that illuminated the alley around her, giving her an otherworldly look. This was disturbing enough on its own, but it was something else that particularly struck Azula.

First, her clothing colours. Second, the haircut, a full head bun. Third, she was barefoot. Azula did remember someone that filled the bill on all three, but the clothing style didn’t match.

And then the girl turned around. Her movement was jerky and unnatural, way faster than that of a normal human. She gazed at the people in the street for a short while, and then looked directly at Azula.

Everything about this girl’s face screamed Toph Beifong at the first glance. However, the eyes were different. Instead of being greyed out and blind, they were brown-green and clearly capable of seeing, as the girl stared right into Azula’s eyes.

And then something clicked in her head. White flame, and that girl with the ponytail. Everything matched Ukano’s report. These people were supposedly from another world and were capable of flying, as well as releasing this weird aura, or whatever it was. Azula even saw the latter herself for a moment, a burst of white light covering the palace. And to top it all off, these weird monsters in human form almost immediately befriended the Avatar and his little team. They were also treated to an audience with Zuzu like it was no big deal.

It was weird though that Toph of all people was surrounded by that fire. Did the aliens teach the Team Avatar some of their abilities? Not mentioning the now-cured eyes of the earthbender girl, if it was truly her.

Azula turned back to where she was going before and started walking. Her heart was pounding wildly. She expected to be struck by whatever it was that took out Zirin any second now.

She made sure to try to calm herself down. She wondered if she could perhaps steel herself for this attack, if she anticipated it.

She kept walking for a few dozen seconds without hearing anything out of the ordinary.

Then, another blast. Azula closed her eyes, trying to resist the incoming strike.

And nothing happened. She looked behind her at the street. After a few seconds she witnessed another blast. The white flame looked like a blur, or a flash, when it moved this fast. It bolted between scared citizens, knocking some of them off their feet and disappeared in another alley.

Azula turned back around and walked a bit faster this time.

She could not believe how close she was to getting busted. She guessed that the Avatar and his friends were after her and her comrades. However, she could not understand why Toph did not react when seeing her.

After a few seconds a revelation struck her. Last time they met, she was quite sure that Toph was still blind. Back in the past, she acted as if she could see, using earthbending to replace vision. Azula however remembered that this ability could not be used to recognise faces or expressions. There was a chance that if it was really Toph, she would not recognise Azula without hearing her voice.

A few more blasts thundered in the distance, freaking the princess out each time it happened.

 

* * *

 

Aang was sitting back in the familiar dining hall. They have returned here after capturing the six spirit importers. As Whis was nearing an end of his little food escapade, there was no point in going anywhere else.

Pan, Bulla and Toph sat down together, discussing that little manhunt as well as Toph’s empowered ability to sense the earth. It has apparently become powerful enough to see the entire planet at once. Toph resolved to try and master this skill and therefore refused to wear shoes for the time being. Bulla was observing her aura with curiosity (it was still quite intense), while Pan bombarded the earthbender with questions about the stuff that she could see throughout the world.

Katara was sitting near Aang. She was turned towards Whis and Iroh. She was exchanging some small trivia about the Water Tribe food. It turned out that Whis remembered the time when Sokka offered to take the gods to the South Pole so that they could try the tribe’s kitchen. He was now willing to learn more about it.

Before Aang got bored out from listening to either Toph or Katara, Zuko walked into the hall from the corridor door.

“I’ve got news, everybody. It turns out that the fake spirits that you captured were just some escapees from a psychiatric hospital.” He said, whilst taking seat next to his uncle.

“Well, that’s a disappointment. I thought that they were allied with the rebels that attacked you before. I was hoping that taking these impostors down would deal a powerful to them.” Bulla said.

“Come on, princess. Even if they were related to New Ozai, they were just some goons. Probably tasked with sowing discontent in the city.” Toph said.

“Pretending to be evil spirits does sound like a good idea to turn the people against their ruler.” Aang added. “I just hope that it will not enrage the actual spirits.”

“I did not feel any disturbance in the spiritual energy of this world so far.” Whis commented. “If your spirits were angry, I suppose that there would be some noticeable shift in the divine aura around the city.”

“Well, that’s good to hear.” Aang said, while putting his hands behind his head.

“I’m just happy that we have caught them. They could have been dangerous to the ordinary citizens of the capital.” Pan commented.

Katara, who has been just listening intently to this exchange, now have chimed in:

“You said that they escaped from a mental hospital. Was it the same one where Azula was kept?”

Zuko stroked his chin, gazing at the table with an empty look.

“Who is Azula?” Pan asked.

“Zuko’s crazy sister. Long story.” Toph answered her quickly.

After a few seconds, Zuko said:

“Yes, it was. Why do you ask?”

“She is still missing. I was just wondering what she was up to this whole time. That whole fake spirit charade sort of reminded me of her. Could she be perhaps related to those guys in some way?” Katara asked, appearing disturbed.

“It is a possibility.” Zuko answered. “However, none of the escapees even mentioned her. They all seemed to stick to the same coherent story about being friends and having a common break-out plan.”

“What is going on with Azula anyway? We have not heard about her at all ever since we found your mom.” Aang said.

Pan tried to interrupt again, but Toph elbowed her lightly, prompting her to stay silent. Bulla just listened with curiosity.

Zuko got lost in thought for a moment, looking down at the table again. He looked as if he was embarrassed about something.

“I do not know. To be honest, I gave up on searching for her for the time being.”

Everybody looked just like Aang felt: surprised.

“What? I would have expected you to put up a wanted poster at the very least! You know that she is crazy and dangerous, right?” Katara asked.

“I know, but… I do not want to hunt her down like a wild animal. She is my sister, and I wanted to treat her as such.”

“You do remember that she kind of wanted to dethrone you and kill your mother? She is probably planning another attack right now.” Katara said, looking worried.

“I do not think that she wants to do that anymore.” Zuko responded. “She had both me and my mother against the wall back then. She just could have killed her, and then run away. She had the letter that could have undermined my legitimacy to the throne. All she needed to do was to give it to the right people, like this New Ozai Society. They would then go out of hiding, announce that I am an usurper and force me to either step down or fight a civil war against them. And with a leverage like that, they could have gathered a lot of support.”

He paused here for a moment.

“But she did not do any of that. She let us both go and disappeared. She also tossed that letter away. She could have hurt us both with ease back then, and yet she didn’t.”

“That’s really sweet of her, but she is still a lunatic.” Toph commented. “It would be good to have an eye on her at least.”

“I would not trust her either if I were you, my dear nephew. Even if she does have some human feelings, she is still a devoted apprentice of my brother.” Iroh added. “It would be befitting of her to cause some disturbance in the city just to mess around with you. Or perhaps to disturb you and force some agenda upon you.”

“Even so, I will not be trying to capture her until I have no other choice. I wish I could just invite her back to the palace and get along with her again.”

Katara kept silent for a moment, staring at the table.

“I understand. Then we will leave her be for now. I just hope that you are not wrong about her.” She said.

“That idea will bite you right back in the butt.” Toph said.

“Maybe. If she will do something dangerous, then I will try to recapture her.” Zuko said. “I hope I will not have to.”

A moment of silence. Aang smiled, feeling somewhat cheered up by Zuko’s logic, even if it was not exactly safe in the long run. Forgiving the wrongdoers felt like something he would do himself. He was happy to see the road that Zuko has underwent: from angst and violent prince to peaceful and merciful Fire Lord.

“Okay everyone, if there are no further issues to discuss, we will be heading back to Lord Beerus’s world now. I would like to introduce you to your training regimen today.” Whis said, standing up. “Thank you for your hospitality, Mr Iroh, Fire Lord.” He bowed at each respective person. “Am I allowed to return here tomorrow with the kids?”

“Of course, Mr Whis.” Iroh said. “Consider yourself at home here. And this applies to all of you.” He turned towards Aang and others. Then, back to Whis: “If you won’t be able to find me here, this will mean that I am back at my teashop in Ba Sing Se. In such a case, my nephew will be your host instead.”

“Thank you very much, that is very kind of you. Would it be alright if I visited you there as well? I must admit that I am most curious to try the cuisine of the great capital of the Earth Kingdom.” Whis responded.

“By all means, come and stop by. I will happily demonstrate our art of tea-making to you, and then we can seek out some of the finest restaurant in the city.”

“Looking forward to it. Well then, let’s head outside, everyone.”

All of Whis’s pupils stood up. After exchanging a few goodbyes, they moved to the garden, gathered up in an empty space with no nearby trees and allowed themselves to be consumed by the white light, as Whis took off from this planet.

 

* * *

 

Azula swapped her striped jacket for a dark shirt with long tight sleeves. She also put on the mask, as well as shoes with soft soles. Ideal clothing for a stealth mission. After getting ready, she entered an outlet of a large sewer in the outskirts of the docks. As she walked through it, she started to chew on the events that have recently transpired.

She was thinking about the attack on Zirin from before. She wondered if she was right in her assumption that she and her comrades were the target of the Team Avatar. If so, how would they even know how to find them?

She formulated one theory quite quickly: the costumes. Even if they had no prior information about their movements and just randomly blitzed around the entire city, they would find her entire team very quickly, turning their plan against them. These robes were very characteristic, and on top of that symbolic. They were supposed to represent the disagreement with the current seat of power in the Fire Nation, just as the original Kemurikage did back in their days. Azula then figured that the hunt was probably related to the spirits in the first place.

The idea behind this charade was to sow discontent and distrust towards the new Fire Lord. Given the Kemurikages’ legacy, it was a fitting way to demonstrate the lack of the divine right to rule of her dear brother Zuko. Between that and the New Ozai Society lurking around, it should rouse up the citizens enough to force them, and by extension him, to undertake some drastic measures. Azula was quite certain that there were plenty of people in the Fire Nation that did not approve of Zuko being an Avatar-loving sissy who surrendered a war they practically won. If given enough reason and opportunity to rebel, they were likely to follow through.

However, this sudden revelation about the aliens aiding Zuzu was complicating everything. The team that she had assembled was small, but effective. And these wierdos took them out almost instantly. Azula wondered for a moment if they got everyone and if there was anything she could do about it. Walking around in plain sight could be dangerous now: if her comrades spilled anything about her, Zuzu would send either the Avatar or his new alien buddies after her next.

Perhaps it was a good time to plant some distrust between them. If the Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom suddenly gained access to samples of technology they were not supposed to have, it would force Zuko to question the motives and loyalty of his friends. Of course, Azula would not just give the tech to them: Fire Nation would study it first in a secret lab that Ukano was supposed to prepare. Better safe than sorry. On top of that, if Zuzu’s buddies found out about it somehow, they would mistrust him too.  It was a win either way. 

As Azula was thinking about all this, she almost passed the exit she needed to take to enter the shipyard. She climbed up the ladder and exited in a maintenance tunnel. She then started walking around and checking the grates, trying to figure out where the ship stood exactly and where any guards or workers were.

As she expected, there was no one near any of the pipe exits. She had no doubt that the Kyoshi Warriors knew how to guard a building from the outside, but they were unlikely to have much experience with factories that required both large sewerages as well as maintenance tunnels to function.

After a while, she found an exit that was near an opened hatch and yet far away from most of the people walking around. After making sure that nobody was looking, she moved out of the hole and sneaked into the ship.

The interior was well lit and white-coloured, making her dark outfit sort of useless now. The floor was on top of that made of metal, which made all steps taken on it painfully loud.

That is, unless someone had shoes with soft soles and did not stomp around like a Komodo rhino.

This worked well in her advantage. There were multiple doors and cave-ins that she could hide in. Once she heard someone, she could just sneak into one of the chambers and wait them out, knock them out if they entered the room she was in, or sneak behind their back once they gotten past the door.

She indeed heard multiple stomps around the ship. She tried to keep the distance to all of them, remaining on the opposite side of the ship to the one with the researchers.

She entered a few doors here and there at random, trying to find any trinkets that were easy to hide and carry around. She found a piece of glass attached to a metal shell with a bunch of buttons on it, something that resembled a glove with a tube, a few items that she assumed to be tools as well as a small but stretchy and incredibly durable piece of clothing. She also picked up a bunch of pieces of the ship itself lying around here and there, as material samples. Some of the chambers looked as if they were trashed by someone allowing her to pick up multiple fragments of either walls, floors, weird contraptions from behind them or from those weird lights.

Her final find was a rectangular piece of weird material that for some reason lit up when she touched it surface. After playing around with it for a little bit, she figured that it reacted to skin contact, showing different images when she was moving her fingers on it. She also assumed that those images were actually text for the most part, written in some unrecognisable characters and intertwined with some schematics.

Hoping that she had stumbled onto some sort of portable repository of knowledge, she decided to move out. She managed to leave the ship and move back into the sewer. Given that she was almost invisible once she was out of the bright interior of the ship, it felt practically too easy.

Perfect, she thought. Now, all that remained was to travel safely to Jang Hui village. There were a bunch of engineers and researchers here that Ukano informed her about. They were his friends, whom Avatar wronged in the past by destroying their factory. They would not take long to be convinced to work on this tech in secret.

While she walked to the exit of the sever, she decided to inspect the equipment she stole.

She started by messing around with the glass thing. The buttons on it were making her curious.

Once she pressed the big red one, the glass lit up with a bunch of letters, similar to the ones from the alien book thing. They were a bit blurry, so she moved the thing closer to her eye to see them better.

Once she did that, she heard some beeping noises coming from the shell. They were too silent for her to hear them exactly. She moved the shell piece closer to her ear to try and listen.

And then it clicked in her head. The thing was supposed to be worn on the ear with the glass positioned in front of the eye. Once she did that, she could hear the noises perfectly and also see those weird letters better. She had no idea what either of them meant, but decided to keep the toy on anyway, to observe and listen.

 

* * *

 

“Lord Frieza, we detected a few scouter signals from the surface of this world.”

Frieza was sitting in his chair, looking at this unsuspecting little blue ball.

Initially, it was discovered to be habitable by a team of researchers tasked with finding any planets that supported life. Frieza was disappointed that they had to resort to such a boring way of finding new worlds for his empire, but a must was a must. He preferred to check out and secure each and every world he could find before those pesky Saiyans could claim them for the Galactic Kings.

This planet was a bit more interesting than the rest though, as it was linked to an incident from right after his second death. Apparently, it was discovered back then to host a civilisation of primitive indigenous creatures similar to humans from Earth, but slightly stronger on average. Good potential breed for new soldiers or efficient slaves. However, the planet’s data was erased by a deserter named Pecha, probably in order to allow him to hide there from the Frieza Force.

All of this sounded like a good reason to scout out this planet. When they were travelling towards it, Frieza was entertaining himself with various ideas regarding the punishment of the traitor and the eventual conquest of this world. However, then he felt something that completely discouraged him from doing anything rash.

It was a set of six strong power levels on the surface of this world. Whilst three of them seemed somewhat mediocre and unrefined, two closely resembled the power signatures that he just happened to hate the most in the entire universe. Whilst weaker, the resemblance was uncanny, pointing to only one possibility.

Bulla and Pan. Two new Saiyan brats that, despite their young age, managed to already obtain considerable power and get under his skin. Vegeta’s little princess and Goku’s nauseously cheerful granddaughter. Whenever he looked at this dumb cute smile of hers, he felt a rapid urge to grab a cute and cuddly animal and rip it to shreds with his bare hands, while screaming out loud to the heavens. The heir to the Saiyans throne, as Bulla liked to proclaim herself, had some class at the very least.

And on top of that, he also recognised the final power signature. Mysterious and plain, scary and peaceful, good and evil, all at the same time. The angel. Whis.

All of that taken together prompted Frieza to tread carefully. Initially, when he sensed all of them on his approach, he ordered the ship to be turned around to get some distance. He also used his newly developed ability to conceal his power, hopefully allowing him to avoid confrontation.

Then, they sent an automatic scout ship. After a few hours of waiting, it provided an image of a large white beam shooting out of the surface. Frieza saw it multiple times at this point: it was a signal that his least favourite visitor on this world has just left. And from what he could sense, he took the brats and whoever the other three were with him.

And now, apparently there were scouter signals over there. Did it mean that the Saiyans gave some technology to the people of this world? Or did they perhaps salvage it from the traitor’s vessel? He was curious what the crew of the second scout ship (sent a few good minutes after the beam disappeared, just to be sure) had to say about it.

“How many? And how it is that you did not report them sooner?” Frieza asked.

“With all due respect, my lord, we were focused on scanning the surface for power levels and population centres.” The soldier responded. He probably did have a name, but Frieza could not be bothered to remember such a weakling. “The computer reacted to a new scouter being turned on. The other two were active for a long time since now, but completely unused. None of them sent any transmissions or recordings to us.”

“Hmmm, I see. Can you specify who is using the scouters?”

“One of them is definitely the traitor. He is accompanied by a bunch of locals, one of whom has a scouter of their own as well. The third signal appeared recently and belongs to another local. Unlike the first two, it is located far away from any large population centres. The only things that seem to be near are local animals.”

“Some of them look really nasty.” The second soldier spoke. “I just discovered a snake the size of a ship in the nearby sea.”

“I do not care, really. Do you think that you can approach this separated local without being detected by the others?” Frieza said.

“Should be possible. The specimen is located on a side of a hill near the sea. It shields it visually from all nearby towns.”

“Retrieve them then. I am most curious how so many locals were able to get their hands on our technology.” Frieza said.

“Right away, my Lord.” The soldier said, and then disconnected.

Frieza gazed at the planet yet again. He decided to play around and try to feel out this separated local himself. He did not think that it would be possible to find them without some extra clue as of where they were exactly, but it remained an amusing exercise, nonetheless. He then recalled something that bugged him. The identity of the three unknown warriors. He pressed a button on his communicator and said:

“Signal the sleeper cell on Earth. I will need to use the Dragon Balls.”

 

* * *

 

Azula was a bit freaked out. She just dared to test out what the glove tube thing did, and it turned out to be a weapon.

She sort of guessed it when she wore it. It had a button inside, under the pointing finger. It also somewhat resembled a cannon when worn, like those that were mounted on the airships. She made sure to not point it at herself or even at the nearby ground when pressing the trigger. She instead chose a rock a few hundred yards away.

It was completely blown off the horizon, leaving a large hole behind. The only way a firebender could match this destructive power was when under the influence of Sozin’s comet.

While she was thinking about the weapon (making sure to take it off first), she suddenly noticed something moving in the sky.

A small dot was increasing in size right above the horizon. After a few seconds, she realised that it was something flying over the waters, apparently headed for her location.

Before she managed to make any decision, it actually turned out to be another flying ship. Azula noticed a distinct similarity between this one and vessel in the shipyard. Given this thing’s speed as well as its potential armament, it was useless to run from it.

When it was near her, it almost stopped and turned around. A hatch opened on the side of the vessel. Then it landed in front of her, the hatch pointing right at her as if inviting her to walk inside.

There was a person standing in the opening. Another alien, she thought, given that he had scales, a fish-like face and fins on his arms and legs. She also noticed a tail.

“Lord Frieza wishes to speak with you.” He spoke. The voice confirmed this thing to be a male. “You are invited in front of His Magnificence to answer a few questions.”

“Oh, is that right? And what if I refuse the invitation?” Azula did not really intend to resist, as she knew what those aliens could be capable of. The armour that he wore was on top of that resistant to both fire and electricity. She knew, because she checked with the stretchy one before, and his looked sturdier.

However, a coy signal of defiance was a good way to find out what she was up against. If an offer was suggested, then the best way forward was to haggle or demand guaranties. If a threat was the answer, it was wiser to be compliant.

“To be honest, there is no choice here, young lady. You are in possession of some of our gear, and we have to investigate how did you stumble upon it. If you resist, we will have to confiscate it as well as take you into temporary custody. However, if you follow us of your own will and just answer the questions honestly, you will be released immediately, or perhaps even rewarded for your cooperation.”

So both, in a way. She was still left in the dark here, possibly being led into a trap, but she had no choice anyway.

“Very well, I accept. Lead the way.”

It was time to honey up her game, for a change.

The alien gestured her towards the open hatch. Azula just breathed in and entered the ship.

The interior somewhat reminded her of the larger vessel that she recently infiltrated. White walls, strange long flat lights along the edges of the ceiling, panels with buttons and those flat black surfaces that displayed images. There were no doors here though, as the entire ship was about a size of a room. There were some places to sit along the walls, intertwined with what Azula assumed to be storage compartments. There were also two seats in front of a large panel with multiple buttons and images, most likely pilot controls. They faced a large frontal window. There were a few smaller windows on the sides as well. Azula placed herself on a seat near one of these and looked through it with curiosity.

“We will be taking these for now.” The fish alien said suddenly, having walked in after her. He pointed at her bag full of their gear as well as at her scouter. She just gave them to him without saying anything.

“Lord Frieza, we have secured our guest. We will arrive in a few minutes.” She heard that from one of the chairs in front. Apparently, there was another alien over there. Azula looked out to see him, as well as who or what he was talking to.

“Excellent. Bring them straight to me once you land.” She heard a distorted voice.

It came from one of the image panels, that currently portrayed a white face with a purple forehead (or was it a skull?), black lips and weird lines that reached from the lower jaw up to the narrow eyes with red pupils.

Azula would find this face quite amusing to look at, if it weren’t for those eyes. The gaze reminded her way too much of her father’s when he was disappointed with her.

The face disappeared almost immediately after she saw it, being replaced with some gizmos. Soon after, the hatch closed in behind them, and they started moving.

Azula expected to feel some sort of strong pull when she saw the ground suddenly move away from them, but the sensation was much weaker than she anticipated. It made little sense, considering the speed at which they travelled.

And they travelled very fast. First, they flew over the sea for a few seconds, probably reverting the path that the aliens took to meet her. Then, the ship turned its front upwards and accelerated wildly. Again, she felt some inertia affecting her, but almost nothing compared to what it should have been.

She saw the sea and the lands move away from them at a rapid pace. As they grew more distant, Azula could encompass more and more of them in a single gaze. After a few more seconds, she was looking at a part of the sphere that the world has been, a blue-green orb sprinkled with multiple white dots and lines of the clouds.

Azula could not help but admire the sight in front of her. She was probably the first human ever to witness their planet from within the void around it. The only thing that bugged her was that she could not see the entire globe: it was mostly covered by the hull of the ship, as she was staring at it from a side window.

Soon after, she noticed something weird in the corner of her eye. Something large right in front of their ship. She turned to the front window and noticed another craft. It was very similar to the one from the shipyard, but much, much larger.

They jerked their path a bit, aiming sort of underneath the large vessel. There was a big opening underneath it, a bottom hatch. Their little ship flew through it into what looked like a hangar. There were a few more vehicles stationed there, in various shapes and sizes.

They soon touched down near the wall of the hangar. The hatch opened, revealing a large door right next to where they stood.

“Follow me.” The fish alien said.

Azula stood up and walked out of the vessel, with her companion in front. The door opened, revealing a corridor behind it. They ventured into it and shortly after reached another, large circular tunnel that seemed to encircle the entire ship. There were multiple other aliens passing by, some of them on foot and some of them flying around in the air with no aid. A few looked at Azula with curiosity, but most completely ignored her. Nobody spoke out loud to her.

After passing by multiple doors, they stopped in front of a larger one. Before anyone did or said anything, they opened by themselves, leading to a chamber with a giant chair on a dome-like pedestal in the middle. Her entire planet was clearly visible from there through a large window.

“Leave us.” She heard a voice. She recognised it, and indeed it belonged to the same white-purple alien from before. He stood up from the chair, walked down from the pedestal and faced her directly.

Her fish companion left the chamber, bowing shortly. The door closed behind him, leaving her alone with this person, apparently known as Lord Frieza.

“Good afternoon, young lady. What is your name?” He spoke first.

Azula wavered for a moment. She preferred to not give him any hints of her true heritage for the time being, not until she learned something more about him.

“It’s Jin, my lord. It’s an honour to meet you.” The name of her brother’s innocent crush from the past seemed harmless enough. On top of that, hearing him addressed as Lord before made her act submissively, just in case.

“Pleasure is all mine, Jin. Forgive this sudden incursion on your everyday life, but we are in an emergency here. I will now ask you a few questions, and I would recommend that you answer them truthfully, for both our sakes. You are allowed to refuse to answer, and you will be sent back home safely after I ask all of them but remember that the fate of your entire world could be at stake here. If you do answer all of my questions, you will be free to keep the gear that you found as a reward. Is all of that clear?”

“Yes, it is. I will be happy to help.” She wanted to keep the technology samples and she also wanted to understand this person’s true motives. The look in his eyes felt very dissonant to his friendly demeanour and cosy tone. She was quite certain that he was not as friendly as he acted to be.

“Very well. You see… I am the leader of an organisation known as the Frieza Force. We maintain peace and prospect in the universe by protecting, guiding and uplifting planets with life. We have discovered your world about 14 years ago. We have been preparing for an official contact ever since, but our efforts have been impeded by two deserters from the Force, who have decided to erase all the data about this place from our databases and sell the information to our sworn enemies, the Galactic Kings Alliance. They are a group of cosmic thugs that conquer and enslave planets whilst maintaining the illusion of ‘law’ and ‘order’. We wish to prevent their treachery from reaching this world, for they are known to be cruel and ruthless to their subjects. Jin, I have specifically ordered to locate and summon you here, because of the gear in your possession. It indicates that in one way or another, you had contact with this issue. Given everything that you heard so far, could you explain to me how you came across it?”

Azula was almost certain that it was the other way around. Frieza’s gaze felt almost like looking in the mirror. She was fond of using force and fear to keep people under her heel, and she was also fond of lying to get what she desired. Her conversant felt almost identical. He too appeared to be a powerful monster.

Azula wanted to play along with his little game. She had a few strong cards to play here, but she had to be careful with dealing them. Revealing too much too early could raise his guard, and she wanted him to trust her. As much as two monsters could trust each other, of course. And should she be wrong about him by any miracle, he would prove very useful anyway.

“It would appear, that I was mistaken about you. You see, when I first arrived in here, I did not know whether or not I could trust you. However, now I see that I have nothing to fear. My name is not Jin, but Azula. I am the princess of one of the four nations of our world, called the Fire Nation. Until recently, I used to be an adviser to my brother, the current ruler of our country. However, everything changed after the arrival of a space ship similar to this one. You see, its pilot initially claimed to seek shelter on our world. He wanted to call his friends to come and rescue him and then he would dismantle every piece of technology that he brought with him, claiming that it would bring us trouble. I was not convinced of his good intentions though. I advised my brother to carefully observe him, as well as to perhaps study the vessel before he destroyed it. My brother was not sure what to do. However, soon after, said friends appeared in the palace. I wanted to meet them alongside my brother, but for some reason I was withheld from any talks with them. A few days have passed. I tried to find out what was going on, but my brother did not want to speak with me. Instead, one night, the guards came after me in my sleep and tried to apprehend me. I managed to defeat them and get away from the palace in disguise. I decided to infiltrate the shipyard in which the vessel was stored and steal some samples of the technology, hoping to preserve them in case my brother decided to go through with destroying them. Once I did, I left the capital city, hoping to find some friendly souls that would help me to study these items. And that is how I came across them, Lord Frieza.”

Frieza looked at her for quite a while. Azula wondered for a moment if her story was not too conveniently matching his. However, he did not shed his friendly mask. Instead, he summoned a worried look on his face and said:

“I am truly sorry to hear that, princess Azula. It would appear that you in fact were subject to the scheming of the evil Kings without even realising it. You see, they vehemently despise any samples of our technology. Not only out of sheer pettiness, but also because it is in fact dangerous to them, as we are able to track the position of many pieces of our machinery while it’s operating. These ‘friends’ were no doubt the representatives of the Kings and they probably warned your brother about this. If you advised him to keep the ship instead, they would probably try to frame you as our sleeper agent. It’s really worrying and surprising to see that he fell for their machinations so quickly, even to the point of attacking his own sister.”

“To be fair, I sort of expected something like this to happen sooner or later. My brother was always jealous and annoyed with me. Even though he was the heir to the throne, I was considered to be better suited for rulership. Our father always told us that I had the wisdom and patience that he lacked. And therefore, even though I always tried to be kind and supportive of him, he always hated to have me around. When he took the throne, he felt that I keep undermining his authority, as most of the nobility agreed with me more often that with him. I tried to convince him all this time that I only have his and our nation’s best interests at heart, but he did not believe me. I guess that when he finally found an excuse to get rid of me, he took it, willing to listen to literally anyone else instead.” She made sure to look as depressed as possible when saying all of that. She paused for a moment, before continuing:

“This is so horrible.” Azula now switched to a worried expression. “Who knows what other lies has been fed to him by now. He was out there for multiple hours on these talks with these evil aliens.” She paused here again. “I should be mad at him for being such an asshole, but I can't help but worry about him. Him and our nation. What should I do now?” Another pause. “I'm sorry, I should not trouble you with my personal worries. You said you had multiple questions. Do you want me to answer another one?”

“I do, but I will understand if you will not want to continue. It must have been a difficult period for you. However, if you can perhaps describe the aliens that you encountered or heard of, it would help me to confirm my suspicions and formulate a plan of action. Right now, I wish for nothing but to save this world form the clutches of the evil Kings. Hopefully it will also help you to get your brother back.”

“Thank you so much, Lord Frieza. I hope that my knowledge will be of any use to you. First of the aliens, the one that arrived in the ship, was small and blue, with a very long head. He had big round eyes and a lot of red dots all over his body. His name, if I remember it right, was Pecha. The aliens that came after him appeared out of nowhere, I never saw or heard of their spaceship. First was a tall blue man with white hair and a circle floating around his neck. His name was Whis. He was accompanied by two girls, about 15 years old each, one black haired and one blue haired. They appeared human but behaved in a very odd manner.”

Frieza had a spark of triumph in his eyes. Azula was certain that if he was lying as much as she suspected him to, it probably was not a good sign.

“Yes, of all those people these two girls are the most familiar to me. They are the daughters of the Kings’ most trusted servants. They have been trained as both warriors and diplomats. Their presence clearly indicates the Kings’ interest in this world. However, the appearance of this Whis person is even more worrying.”

Despite what Frieza said, he looked more curious than worried. Azula decided to press the issue a bit.

“Why is that? Who is he?”

“He is a servant and mentor of an entity called the God of Destruction. If he is present in your world alongside the Kings’ people, then it means that some larger scheme is at hand.”

Azula did not know what the God of Destruction was exactly, but it sounded like trouble, nonetheless. Was there something else at play besides the Kings’ and Frieza’s squabble over this planet? Whatever it was, she needed to figure it out.

“However, do not be afraid.” Frieza continued “I have a way of figuring out what has transpired in the past. I will now use it to learn what this Whis person have discussed with your brother. I have a feeling that it will be something of grave importance.” He moved back over to his chair and pressed some buttons on the board in front of it.

A large image of a cliffside bathed in the moonlight appeared on the surface of the window. Azula noticed a humanlike alien with yellow skin and fleshy horns on his forehead that was standing there. He was looking directly at them.

“Is everything ready, Karmath?” Frieza spoke.

“Yes, sir. We are ready to summon the dragon, sir!” His voice felt as if he was standing right there in that room.

“Do it then.” Frieza said.

Karmath moved away from them and turned towards a set of orange crystal balls with red stars embedded within. They were lying on the ground behind him. Before Azula managed to ask what the hell was going on, he spoke to the balls.

“Arise, Shenron, and grant my wish!”

The balls have lit up with an intense yellow light. Moments after, it shoot up high in the sky, forming a weird snakelike stream of brightness that wiggled, turned and twisted multiple times in the air. After a few seconds, the light had subsided, revealing a gigantic green dragon hovering over the land.

The dragon turned its head towards them and spoke in a deep echoing voice.

“I am the eternal dragon. I shall grant you any three wishes. Now speak!”

“Right here.” Frieza said. “My first wish is to hear an outline of the issue that has been discussed between Whis and the ruler of the Fire Nation.”

The dragon stayed silent for a moment. Azula could not read what it was thinking or feeling. Not that she understood how a dragon that have just appeared out of a set of orange balls could have known what was talked about on a meeting that ended a few hours ago.

After a few seconds, he begun to speak.

“Over 75 millions years ago, a God of Creation known as Elder Kai saw a lot of darkness rising in the universe. To maintain the balance, he decided to create a species of powerful warriors that could restore the balance of good and evil. He therefore chose a planet viable for sustaining complex life and cast a spell upon it that would gradually elevate the Chi of its creatures. However, the God of Destruction Beerus disagreed with this idea. During a coronation meeting that all gods held every thousand years, he stated that the warriors raised by the spell were just as likely to use their power for evil as they were to use it for good. Their argument ended with Elder Kai being sealed in a magical sword for many years to come.

Lord Beerus wanted the spell to be removed but he was too lazy to do it himself. He instead took an endless nap, leaving this job to the other gods. They however decided to let the Old Kai’s work run it’s course and witness the results before pronouncing a judgement. To keep it safe, they needed to hide it from both Lord Beerus and any evildoers who could take advantage of it. Therefore, the gods cast another spell on this world: all the Chi that the first spell would grant would be permanently supressed.

The gods managed to keep their secret without much trouble as Lord Beerus forgot about it after he woke up. Soon after however, multiple disturbances and threats to their own lives made them forget this world as well. Many eons have passed, as the spells were performing their task undisturbed. It was yesterday in the days of this world when the God of Destruction finally recalled this issue. He then arrived on this world and found the fruit of the two spells’ work, a race of people with immense Chi hidden away from them against their will.

Threatened at the danger that this revelation posed to the universe, he first thought of destroying this world. However, his curiosity got the better of him and he decided to give this planet a chance. The power of a single person from this world would be released and they would challenge him in two years after undergoing a training with Beerus’s own mentor and servant, Whis. Should they win, the planet will be spared, and should they lose, it will be no more.

After a longer discussion, not one but three candidates were chosen for this undertaking, thanks to the courtesy of Whis. After traveling to Lord Beerus’s world and having their power released, they came back temporarily and decided to disclose this issue to their friend, Fire Lord Zuko, brother of the lady that is by your side. Whis participated in this discussion by providing any missing details of the story and answering any questions that Zuko and his friends had. There, I have provided you with the outline of the main issue that Whis and Fire Lord have discussed. Now, state your next wish.”

Silence. Azula was lost in thought, and so was Frieza. This story had little to do with what they were talking about before. However, it felt way more important. So did the fact that Frieza had a magical wish-granting dragon with an endless supply of knowledge.

This explained what she witnessed back in the alley. Apparently, Toph was one of the three that had their Chi released from the sealing spell. Why she was also cured of her blindness on top of that remained a mystery.

Azula was quite certain that the other two chosen ones were Aang and Katara. If the trio have been comprised of Zuko’s friends and Toph was one of them, then these two were the closest match.

As dangerous as this revelation was, it also presented an incredible opportunity. Should there be any way to release this hidden power, Azula would gain more of an equal footing to perform any of her future schemes.

She did not want to ask for it directly though, at least not until Frieza voiced his opinion on the matter.

“Hmmm, this is interesting. It seems that the Galactic Kings took on more than they could chew. I do not think that they expected to encounter something like this, and neither did I.”

Azula decided to poke him a little in the right direction.

“It sounds so horrible. Our entire world is at risk now… do you think that there is anything we can do about it?”

“Indeed there is, princess. We have a perfect opportunity to take advantage of the situation. I am quite certain that the Kings did so too. I wouldn’t be surprised if the idea to have three people unsealed instead of one have been theirs. However, now that we know about all of that, we can outsmart them.”

“And how would that be, Lord Frieza?” Azula asked.

“I will now wish to have the ability to release this sealing spell from anyone of your race. If we tread carefully, this will allow us to recruit and train as many warriors as we want. I am certain that if they will learn what is at stake, they will be willing to join us.”

This was something that she was afraid of. And yet, it was also a chance to resolve the entire situation, both with Beerus and Frieza.

“It is a brilliant idea, my lord.”

“I am glad that you agree. Dragon” he turned back towards the screen. “Grant me the ability to remove this sealing spell from any creature of this world.”

The dragon did not hesitate this time.

“As you command, so it shall be.”

A bright red light lit up in the dragon’s eyes. Then, similar red light enveloped Frieza’s body for a few seconds.

“How truly magnificent. Hohoho. I understand it now.”

He paused here for a moment.

“Hmmm, technically I do not need any more wishes right now. But it would be a shame to just leave one unused.”

He paused here again. Azula felt tempted to ask Frieza to grant her a wish, but she was not sure how would he react. She preferred to play it safe.

“Oh, perhaps I will just ask for something mundane.” He said, turning back to the window. “Dragon, make my body a little bit bulkier. I want the growth to be visible, but make sure that it is not large enough to impede my mobility.”

The dragon’s eyes lit up red again. Then, Frieza was surrounded by a white light for a moment. Once it subsided, Azula could indeed notice a slight increase in his muscle mass. It baffled her why he would use a wish for something so insignificant, but she did not say anything, nor she allowed her feelings to surface.

“Your wishes have been granted” The dragon spoke. “Farewell!”

It then turned back into a stream of light, flew very high up and exploded into seven beams that spread across the sky. Azula noticed that those balls that he was summoned from disappeared.

“Good job Karmath. Remain on standby and keep a low profile, as always.”

“Yes, sir!” With these words, the image disappeared from the window.

Frieza just stood there for a few seconds, before turning back to Azula.

“Well then, I have two more questions for you, my princess. First, do you possess any significant combat abilities?”

Azula understood that he was assessing whether or not it was worth it to release her power. Feeling the chance at granting her wish, she spoke with confidence.

“Yes, my lord. I am well-versed in hand to hand combat. I also possess the ability of firebending.” She then displayed a small fire on an opened palm. “This is but a demonstration, but a skilled firebender such as myself can produce enough flames out of their Chi to utilise them efficiently in combat, overpowering any opponents that do not have this ability.”

“Glorious!” Frieza said. “Then… how about we make it infinitely more powerful? I will take you under my wing and teach you how to master the ways of Chi. The only thing I demand in return is your aid at dismantling the allies of the devious Kings.”

Azula made sure not allow any malice onto her expression. She summoned a smile of gratitude and excitement, trying to look as innocent as it was possible for her.

“Yes, of course! If it helps to protect my world and save my brother, then I will humbly accept!”

“That is what I wanted to hear.” Frieza said, smiling. Unlike Azula, he did not bother with altering his expression to look ‘nice’ anymore. She did wonder if he saw through her lies just as she did through his. If he did, then it was most likely that he wanted to use her power for his own gains and then get rid of her. He probably also wanted to get as much information as possible about either her world or those aliens. That would also explain why he did not validate any of her words with the help of that dragon. He would rather pretend to trust her, hoping that she would be afraid to lie again with the threat of the truth-revealing dragon looming above her.

As she was thinking about it, he walked over to her, and raised his hand, aiming his opened palm at her forehead. She held down her breath at this point.

She felt a wave of heat over her entire body. A white light appeared around her, quickly enveloping her and temporarily blinding her to everything except Frieza. She also felt a weird pressure all around her, as if she was being squeezed by a giant fist.

And then, everything stopped. She felt the same as before, with all the sensations disappearing.

Frieza looked at her with curiosity.

“Well, my dear, how do you feel?”

Azula released her breath. She wanted to say ‘I am not sure’ while raising her hands to look at them. And then it happened.

A white light appeared around her again. When she looked at her hands, it resembled something between steam and fire emanating from her body. She felt another wave of heat, as well as a mixture of feelings and sensations that were difficult to describe. 

And then she breathed in again.

This entire spectacle intensified, with more light appearing, the heat becoming stronger and all those vivid feelings becoming clearer. She understood it now: it was her Chi. She indeed recalled the overall sensation as the one that she had right before firebending.

She therefore decided to ‘fire up’ as if she was about to shoot out a particularly large fire stream. She controlled her breath and focused all of her passions, thoughts and emotions into a powerful drive. As she did that, the light around her was intensifying, becoming more flame like. She could feel all of those other sensations becoming stronger as well. After a few seconds, she responded:

“It feels wonderful, Lord Frieza.”

He smiled at her, excitement slowly creeping in onto his face.

“Magnificent.”


	4. Dancing Mirages

A burst of white light blinded Toph as they departed for the Beerus’s world yet again.

She blinked a few times. Whis’s ability was always a bit dazzling. She then looked around. Aang and Katara were holding onto her. Bulla held on to Whis’s robe, and Pan held onto her.

The two groups did not talk much during their first trip together. Pan wanted to ask them some questions about their world. Bulla wanted Pan to shut up and wait, as they were about to see it anyway. Their short argument turned into a weird wrestling match between the two. Toph and her friends spent most of that journey keeping a safe distance to the bickering girls.

And now it appeared that this story was about to repeat, as Pan turned towards Toph and said:

“By the way, I forgot to ask, what do you guys like to do for fun in your world?”

Toph wanted to answer, but Bulla interrupted her.

“Do you really need to know it right now? Leave it until tomorrow when we return. We do return, right, Mr Whis?”

“Indeed. I have some plans for tomorrow regarding the dumplings. Mr Iroh told me that there are dozens of kinds of fillings for them.” Whis said.

“There you go.” Bulla turned back to Pan “We will deal with it tomorrow. For now, I am more curious about something else. Is this true that each of your people holds a supply of divine power within them?” She directed this question at Aang.

He looked as if he wanted to answer but was interrupted by Pan.

“But we will talk about this stuff during the training! Which begins right after we land, by the way! When will I get the time to talk about the fun things?”

“Tomorrow. Back on their world.” Bulla was growing impatient.

“But I want to ask right now! Why do you always have to barge in on everything?” Pan had a growing hinge of anger in her voice.

“Well, why do you never shut your trap?” Bulla responded, losing her usual demeanour. The two looked as if they were about to fight.

Aang was smiling a bit uncomfortably. Katara in the meanwhile grunted and said:

“Guys, could you just drop it, at least up until we reach Beerus’s world? We are kind of worried for our lives here.”

The two girls suddenly phased out of all their anger and turned to Katara.

“Don't mind us, it's our standard travel routine.” Pan said, smiling.

“We will not involve you in our conflict.” Bulla now had her princely tone back.

“You guys are weird.” Toph said. The two messing around mid-flight were more annoying than worrying to her.

Aang suddenly brightened up and said:

“Hey, how about you tell us what you do for fun in your world?”

“Yeah, you know, besides arguing and fighting endlessly?” Katara added.

The two girls stayed quiet for a few seconds. Toph smiled a bit, enjoying the silence.

“I do personally enjoy visiting restaurants, museums and theatres. I am also fond of taking trips around the galaxy in a spaceship.” Bulla said.

Pan smiled mischievously at Toph and the others, and then spoke to Bulla:

“And why won't you add breaking controllers and blowing up PC’s over video games?” She turned again to Aang, whilst Bulla’s expression has become stern. “She can sit on those things for days. I guess that explains why she has no friends except me.”

“Excuse you. I happen to be acquainted with a number of important figures, such as King Furry, Galactic King, Mr Satan... Also, rich talk coming from you, miss Book Nerd.”

Toph giggled at the King Furry part. Bulla’s lip twitched, but she still looked at the other Saiyan as she spoke.

“Hey, I at least get outside sometimes, unlike you? And don’t you get started on…” Pan said. It appeared as if they were about to argue again, but Aang interrupted them.

“What’s a video game? I mean, I know the word ‘game’, but never heard of the ‘video’ thing?”

“Oh.” Pan’s anger seemed to have melted away instantly. “Well, it’s like a game played on a TV screen.”

“What’s a TV screen?” Toph asked.

“TV is a shortcut for a Tele-Vision. It is a technology that allows to record, transmit and then display moving images on a device called a screen.” Pan’s tone became almost emotionless, as if she was reading a text in front of her. “Nowadays television transmission happen almost entirely over the Internet and the receivers are computers of all shapes and sizes.”

She stopped when she looked at baffled faces of Toph and the others. Bulla sighed and chimed in:

“What Miss Encyclopaedia wanted to say is that a video game is a moving image that you can control, shown on a piece of glass called Television screen, or TV for short.”

“Okay, that’s easy enough.” Aang said. “So, what can you do with those images?”

“Pretty much anything. Depends on the author’s idea.” Pan said “Bulla certainly has some video games she will be honoured to show you. That and how she rages whilst playing them.” The second sentence was accompanied by an evil smile.

Before Bulla responded, Whis turned his head towards the group and said:

“We will be landing shortly. Please hold still until we are fully immobile.”

Moments after, the white tunnel around them suddenly twisted upwards. After a second or two, it appeared as if they were moving downwards. Then, the tunnel shifted its colours and became the familiar blue-green glade under the pink sky.

Toph noticed that the water that Katara drained during her battle with Bulla was back in the lake.

“Okay. Catch your breath everyone, and then we can begin.” Whis said.

“Already?” Katara reacted.

“Are we all training together?” Pan asked.

“Indeed. After all, all of you are here in order to accomplish the same feat. Even if the reasons, means and results will somewhat differ between each of you. Can any of you perhaps tell what it is?”

Toph concentrated. Each of them wanted to become more powerful here, that was certain. However, it felt too simple for an answer. Therefore…

“The divine Chi!” Pan said enthusiastically.

“Exactly. The goal of your training will be to generate and control divine energy for battle purposes. Of course, you will be improving both your physical condition as well as your combat skills along the way. However, the godly energy will be your main focus. Does any of you know how a mortal being can attain divine energy?”

“By transforming into a Super Saiyan God!” Pan answered again.

Toph got stumped on this. She recalled the word Saiyan from before, but the rest sounded positively ridiculous. Aang and Katara looked baffled.

Bulla chuckled here a bit, saying:

“Come on, Pan, they won’t know what that is. Nor are they Saiyans.”

“It is a correct answer actually.” Whis reacted. “For the way one can willingly enter this transformation is not restricted just to the Saiyans.”

“Oh? I thought that it was characteristic to our race.”

“It is, and it is not.” Whis said. “The resulting transformation is indeed unique to you, but the way to accomplish is not. Well, the self-sufficient way at least. The ritual is completely unique to the Saiyan race.”

“I still didn’t understand half of that, but it’s good to know that we can do it too. Whatever it is that you were talking about.” Toph commented.

“You cannot transform into a Super Saiyan, but you can unlock godly energy. That was the point of this debacle.” Bulla said.

“Yeah, I got that much, thanks.” Toph barked back.

Whis began to talk immediately after Toph.

“In order to generate divine Chi, a person must understand and channel all aspects of themselves, including physical, mental and spiritual ones and fuse them with the cosmic energy of the universe, or in other words, with forces of nature. This is done via manipulation of what we know as Chakras.”

Aang’s eyes widened here.

“I heard about them! You can access the cosmic energy of the universe once you unlock all the seven Chakras!”

“The what now?” Bulla asked. Toph sort of wanted to encore her.

“Chakras are the main clusters of the flow of Chi in the body. There are seven of them and each correlate with different aspects of your being, both positive and negative. Each of them can be trained and utilised separately in theory, but they work best if the flow of energy between them is unobstructed.” Whis spoke.

“I know that part. Each Chakra can be blocked away by different feelings. I didn’t know that they had negative aspects though.” Aang sounded a bit confused.

“Where there is light, there is also a shadow.” Whis said. “Each of the positive aspects of the Chakras is accompanied by a darker side, which is either a direct opposite or a perversion of it.”

“And what do we do with them?” Toph asked. “Meditate on them, sense them, act on them?”

“All of that to an extent.” Whis answered. “Let me give you a quick rundown of each of the chakras before I explain what you should do with them.”

Another pause.

“Listen then. There is the Earth Charka, blocked by fear, with its positive aspects including survival, focus and vigilance, and negative aspects being aggression and violence.”

Aang looked down, as if something worried him. Katara looked at him shortly. Rest of the group kept staring at Whis intently.

“Then there is the Water Chakra, blocked by guilt. Its positive aspects include pleasure, success and fulfilment, while the negative ones are desire and lust, as well as, for the lack of better word, deviance.”

This got everyone stumped on the team Avatar Side. Bulla got lost in thought for a moment, smiling faintly, while Pan giggled. Katara looked as if she wanted to ask something, but she just kept her mouth opened. Whis in the meanwhile just continued.

“Then, the Fire Chakra, blocked by shame. Its positive aspects are willpower and determination, while the negative ones are pride and selfishness.”

This sounded less disturbing than the Water Chakra. Toph and the others managed to regain focus.

“Then, the Air Chakra, blocked by grief, with positive aspects being love and trust and negative aspects being anger and hatred.”

“Oh, this sounds a lot like the Super Saiyan!” Pan reacted here.

“Indeed, the Super Saiyan power comes from the overexertion of this Chakra.”

“What is this whole Super Saiyan thing?” Toph asked.

“It is an ability characteristic of my people that grants us immense power. You do not need to worry about figuring it out now, you are up for a personal demonstration.” Bulla responded, smiling menacingly.

“Then, there is the Sound chakra, blocked by lies, the positive aspect being truth and the negative one being deception. Then, there is the Light Chakra, blocked by illusion, with positive aspect of insight and negative aspect of nihilism.”

“One thing.” Bulla interrupted. “What is the difference here between illusion, lies and deception? They sound kind of like the same thing.”

“The difference is internal above all else, my dear.” Whis answered. “Sound Chakra is blocked by lying to yourself. It’s negative aspect of deception does not block it however, as a deception is meant to work outwards. If you can deceive others whilst staying true to yourself, you will make this chakra stronger.”

“Azula would have this one nailed down.” Katara murmured. Toph chuckled slightly.

“And the illusion is the inability to comprehend the nature of the world, as well as to see through lies.” Whis continued. “These differences are perhaps subtle but still very important.”

After another short pause, he continued:

“And then, there is the final chakra: the Thought Chakra. It is blocked by earthly attachments. Unlike all the others, it has no positive or negative aspect. It is a gateway to cosmic energy of the universe. Unlocking all the other chakras is required to make an efficient use of it, although it is not impossible for it to function on its own.”

Another pause.

“Now, to generate divine energy, you will have to channel all of those aspects through you, by whatever means necessary. Toph here mentioned mediation or action: those are all methods to get in touch in a chakra, but the most important end result is to understand all of them. Comprehend them enough to be able to invoke and empower all of those feelings at will.”

He paused here.

“Now, to control divine energy, you need to merely unlock the chakras, you do not need to channel them. However, those without innate, inborn divine energy will not make much use of this. You will still need to channel and fuse your chakras with the powers of nature to gain the power of a god.”

“Wait, so you guys could just become gods by the unlock alone?” Bulla asked, now facing Toph and others “That’s unfair! And we will have to do all of this meditation crap!”

“Actually, our friends here will have to do it too, dear Bulla. Their inner divine Chi is only a small part of their total energy.” Whis explained. “It grants them the power of bending, but it does not elevate the physical and mental capacities that much, if at all.”

“Wait, what? I thought we were taught how to bend. You know, by various creatures from our world?” Katara reacted.

“I learned earthbending from badgermoles.” Toph added.

“And the airbenders were taught by the sky bisons.” Aang spoke.

“Sky bisons?” Pan’s eyebrows have risen a bit.

“That is true, I suppose. However, this ability would not exist in either you or those creatures if it was not for the divine aura within all living things in your world. It is of course possible to teach oneself how to manipulate elements without it, but it is a very difficult task.”

He paused here.

“I always thought that bending was a naturally grown ability.” Aang said. “I never imagined that it could come from some mystic energy within us.”

“And it’s not even that common among us. Many people can’t bend at all.” Toph commented.

“I just wonder how on earth we can manipulate multiple elements now.” Katara said. “Even if bending came from divine energy instead of nature, it still does not make sense why we all suddenly became Avatars now. Shouldn’t just our native bending get stronger?”

“It should. I predict that you will be able to manipulate your original element better than you can do the others. However, multiple bending abilities appeared in you due to the nature of divine energy itself, and by consequence, your bending ability. You see, the only creatures that are carrying the divine Chi in them naturally are gods. And all gods possess the ability to manipulate matter and energy at will. All possible physical matter, that is. The bending skills of your people are a suppressed manifestation of this ability.”

He paused here again.

“From what I can read in your Chi, the presence of divine energy in you gave you natural Chi paths responsible for the ability of manipulation of matter an energy. In other words, the living creatures from your world have an inborn inclination towards controlling nature. However, as your Chi was always suppressed, it could not work properly.”

“This would then mean that we should not be able to bend at all…” Aang murmured, lost in thought.

“Indeed. However, your kind managed to learn how to affect these weakened Chi paths. With time, creatures with potent divine energy would feel stronger and stronger spiritual connection to natural forces around them. When it became powerful enough, it allowed them to ‘sense’ and then ‘fortify’ those Chi paths enough to exhibit partial ability to manipulate matter. In other words: by connecting to nature spiritually they discovered that they can affect it.”

“Is this how creatures like dragons and badgermoles learned bending?” Toph asked.

“Exactly. And it probably swiftly became like second nature to them. It was there the whole time, after all. And with time, you humans have imitated them.”

“I am just surprised how is it that you guys are so poor at manipulating Chi, if you are this good at manipulating nature.” Pan said. “Shouldn’t this be the other way around?”

“I think it was.” Aang said. “The lion turtle once said to me that people used to bend the energy within themselves. But with time, people sort of forgot how to do it.”

“Then how can you bend if you are not using Chi?” Pan asked.

“They still are, Toph. However, they facilitate their bending ability with the forces of nature themselves. They use both Chi and energies found in nature to bend matter and energy.”

Toph recalled something.

“This makes sense. Firebenders could not bend during the eclipse, even though the fire is technically their own Chi.” She said. “They need both Chi and the Sun, it seems.”

“Just like waterbenders need the moon.” Katara said.

“Exactly. This is how your kind overcame the limitation on your Chi. It is not perfect, as you cannot work outside your spiritually native element. However, in the case of you three, your Chi flows freely, and it forced open all of your bending Chi paths, not just your native ones.” Whis explained.

“I think I understand.” Toph said. “However, how is it that some people cannot bend at all?”

“The power of your bending Chi paths depends on the quantity of divine energy in your body.” Whis said. “Non-benders simply have a lesser amount. On top of that, their attunement to nature could be weaker than in benders. I assumed that it should technically be possible for the opposite to be true, and that there would be some people with capacity to bend multiple elements, however it seems that there is a limit to it, likely caused by the suppression spell. However, if we remove the Chi seal, most likely all people from your world would manifest some bending abilities, even the non-benders.”

“So, would Sokka suddenly turn into an Avatar too?” Aang said, smiling. Toph and Katara giggled.

“That is possible, yes.” Whis said.

“And speaking of Avatar, how is it that he can bend multiple elements?” Pan asked.

“He has stronger divine energy within him.” Whis said. He then walked over to Aang and spoke directly to him. “It comes from what I already learned to be called the Avatar spirit. It feels like almost half of your energy, young one, as opposed to a few percent. It also feels somewhat foreign to you, and yet a part of you.”

Aang smiled uncomfortably “Wouldn’t have put it better myself.”

“If you say so. I am kind of curious what the exact nature of that spirit is. However, we can leave this divagation for another time. It’s about time we began our training. Does any of you have any questions about what has been said so far?”

Toph was not sure if she wanted to ask anything. All of this was quite a lot to take in. Before anyone made a sound, Bulla spoke to Whis:

“I do not have any questions about these topics. All of my curiosity about the Avatar’s people and their divine power has been satiated for the time being. I however have one question about the training. Can we skip the exercise part of the training and go straight to the battles?”

All members of Team Avatar looked at her, appearing a bit surprised. Except Toph, she knew what was going on. Whis in the meanwhile responded:

“You can start from fighting indeed, Bulla. Remember however, that I will still want to demonstrate the exercises to your new peers, and you will participate as well. We will not be skipping them. Therefore, if you wish to do some combat first, I would advise to conserve your energy.”

“Do not worry, I have but a small dispute to solve here.” Then she turned towards Toph “Do not think that I forgot your transgression from earlier, earthbender girl. I demanded satisfaction from you, and I will have it. Right now, in fact. Unless you want to be forever branded as a coward and a worm-tongue, that is.”

“Jeez, you’re still on about that?” Katara said, sounding a bit exasperated.

Toph just laughed and said.

“Ready when you are, Princess Veggie Pants.”

“Very well. I would advise you to stop using that disgraceful abomination of a nickname. If you will not, well…” Bulla squinted her eyes and smiled maliciously “You are going to have a really bad time.”

Toph just stood up. She knew that whatever she would say next was going to start the fight. Therefore, she walked a few steps backwards, spacing away from the rest of the group, assumed an earthbending stance and then said:

“Stop talking and move your butt Veggie Pants, before I fall asleep here.” She was smiling maliciously too.

Bulla just sighed. She then brushed some of her hair aside, and whispered:

“Very well.”

 

* * *

 

Katara only saw a blueish blur in the first moment. Then she felt a strong shockwave near them, and another one soon afterwards, coming from a large rock far away in the distance.

She shuddered a bit, the memory of their first encounter with aliens surfacing again.

But then, the rock suddenly moved. It headed with a very high speed towards Bulla, who was now standing where Toph was before.

The Saiyan girl jumped upwards, hovering over the rock for a little bit. She then delicately floated back to the ground.

Katara looked where the rock was with worry, but then saw Toph just standing there in an earthbending stance. Her aura was raging around her again, stronger than before.

“Was that the best you got?” Toph asked mockingly.

“That was only the beginning.” Bulla responded. A few awkward seconds have passed. “Are you just going to stand there?”

“Hey, it’s you who challenged me, Veggie Pants. If you are not going to do anything, I will just take a nap. Or do literally anything else.” Toph was visibly suppressing a laugh.

“Very well.” Bulla then jumped forward.

Toph rotated and slid into the ground before the other girl reached her. Saiyan princess reacted to it by flying high in the air and shouting:

“Bad idea, my dear! I will decimate this whole area and you with it!”

She then pointed an open palm downwards.

A white orb of energy gathered appeared. Katara gazed at it in amazement, so did Aang. After a second or two, the orb was ejected from Bulla’s hand down towards where Toph has sunken into the ground.

At the same moment, a barrage of rocks fired upwards from the ground. The ball of energy hit one of the rocks and exploded. Some of the stones were moved out of their path, but a few have reached their destination.

They did not have much of an effect on Bulla, but Katara saw her dodge one and flinch a bit when another hit her on the back.

“Thanks for giving away your exact location by the way!” Toph shouted from down below. “I was not sure where to shoot before you screamed down your plan of action!”

“I see. Well then, I suppose I need to abandon the courtesy.” Bulla said. She then plunged down towards Toph.

The earthbender performed a shielding motion. The ground around her followed this movement and formed two arches that connected above her head. Saiyan girl just blasted through them though.

Toph responded to this by sliding herself aside with earthbending. As she was moving, she rotated a bit, performing a kick.

Bulla managed to rotate in the air and shield herself with both arms, but she was tossed aside a long distance. She rotated again, touched down on the ground and braked with all of her limbs clawing at the earth. Before she managed to fully stop and stand up, another rock flew straight at her head.

This time Bulla did not try to dodge, but rather she just punched the incoming projectile, breaking it to pieces.

“Nice attack, my dear, but the rocks won’t do much against me anymore.”

She then launched herself at Toph again. The earthbender girl in the meanwhile shielded herself with another rock. Bulla managed to shout out once more as she flew:

“This aga…”

She was struck by another rock flying in at high speed from the side. A powerful shockwave resonated, and the Saiyan girl gave out a small scream.

She definitely felt that one.

She landed in a similar fashion as before, but this time holding her side with one arm.

Toph still stood at the same spot to which she was kicked at the start of the battle.

“How about now?” she asked mockingly.

“You made them denser, didn’t you…” Bulla responded. “Very well. I guess it is time I started trying.”

A white aura exploded around her. She then jumped forward again. This time it was much faster.

Toph has managed to miraculously catch up with this elevated speed and raise a guard with her arms. However, Bulla did not strike from the front as her motion suggested. She twitched and jerked strongly mid-air and instead kicked Toph on the side.

The earthbender girl was send flying. She reached and touched the ground, trying to grab it and slow down, but was then struck by another blow. Bulla flew after her and reached her just in time for another kick.

This one sent Toph flying upwards with an incredible speed. She was headed for one of the small planets that surrounded Beerus’s world. Katara quickly lost her from sight, only to see a shockwave on the surface of that planet.

She just stared at it with her mouth wide open. Aang did not look much better. Before she managed to react in any way, something even weirder transpired before them.

The planet at which they stared suddenly got covered by a web of bright orange patches. They were growing in size and number, quickly covering the entire celestial body, making it look like a ball of lava.

After a few seconds Katara realised something else. This planet was not only changing colour, but it was also getting closer. Oddly enough, both motions made it look as if it was in the same spot in the sky. Katara only noticed the forward movement when it jerked away from it a bit. It then started to rotate upwards.

After a few more seconds it flew close enough for her to see Toph. She was now standing at the top of this glowing ball. Her aura was raging wildly around her.

The former planet shrunk down to a size of a person. It shone with an incredibly powerful light. Katara could also feel an immense heat coming from it, as if she was standing in a pool of lava.

The ball stopped a few meters away from Bulla. Toph looked at her directly and said:

“I figured I would need a bigger rock now.”

 

* * *

 

Aang just stared at this occurrence with his mouth wide open. His brain was completely fried, trying to comprehend what he just witnessed.

Before he managed to make a sound, he saw Toph perform a sliding motion with her foot on the top of the former planet. A narrow block of earth extended from it. It struck Bulla straight in the stomach, pushing her a significant distance away.

After a second Bulla recovered, grabbed the rock with one hand, pushed herself to the side of it and punched it with the other hand, breaking it. She then threw the piece straight at Toph’s head.

Toph slid her foot back and then grabbed the flying rock. She let it drop back at the mini-planet. The extended block of earth contracted back into the ball in the meanwhile.

Bulla jumped forward again. Toph extended another column of earth, but Bulla dodged it by flying upwards and then forward again.

Toph punched the air, pointing at Bulla, causing another long block to protrude. Bulla flew to the side this time, but then Toph quickly thrusted her other arm forward and then clenched and released her fists a few times.

Both columns exploded into a hail of small stones and dust. Toph then made a gesture as if she wanted to grab something in the air in front of her. The entire cloud followed the motion, flying at Bulla.

The Sayian threw both of her arms forward and fired an orb of energy at Toph’s planet. The force of the attack allowed her to change direction. Toph performed a sliding motion to the side, moving the earth orb out of the way. The attack flew away over the glades somewhere into space.

She then made a gripping gesture at the hail of rocks and then pulled that arm to her chest. The cloud moved over to the planet and merged with it yet again.

Bulla stopped all movement and stayed afloat, looking at Toph and smiling. She then said:

“Most impressive. I actually felt threatened by those attacks. I praise you.”

“Wait, so…” Aang managed to finally say something.

“How can you be so calm?” Katara exclaimed, voicing Aang’s thoughts. “She just squeezed a whole PLANET there!”

“I know, right?” Toph said enthusiastically. “First, I just wanted to earthbend myself back here, but then I sensed this whole rock with my feet and wondered how much of it I can bend at once. I think it’s bigger than our Earth.”

Aang and Katara just stared at her, mouth wide open.

“Why are you so surprised? You probably can do it too.” Bulla said. She paused here and looked at the sky. “Indeed, you can do even more. Watch.” She added.

She then charged another ball of energy. This one looked way more violent and powerful than the previous two. Aang thought for a moment that the air around it started to ripple as if it was hot.

Then, Bulla made a wide sweeping motion. The orb splintered into multiple pieces. Each flew to one of the planets that were still far away and drilled into them. After a second or two, each of affected celestial bodies exploded, forming multiple gigantic chunks, as well as large clouds of dust.

Whis sighed loudly at that part, while Pan giggled.

Aang was pretty certain that he was about to faint now. Whis suggested before that Beerus can break planets apart. However, watching this now with his own eyes was a completely surreal experience. As was the suggestion that they apparently could do it too.

“Come on, guys, don’t freak out so much.” Pan spoke. “Whis will put them back together in no time, am I right?”

“Naturally. I just hope you won’t be doing this every day.” He said in a slightly exasperated tone.

“Do not worry, it was just a demonstration. I was hoping that it would help them grow accustomed to this sight.” Bulla said, looking at Aang and Katara. “You still appear distressed though.”

“Well, we are not really used to see planets blow up.” Toph said, smiling a bit uncomfortably.

“Well, it’s kind of not a big deal to us.” Pan said. Her completely cheerful tone and lack of any apparent concern over concept of exploding planets was definitely not helping to calm down. “Come on, guys, let’s do some sparring ourselves. You two against me.” She faced Katara and Aang.

Aang managed to somewhat refocus when spoken to. He was pretty sure it took him at least a few seconds. “Y-y-yeah, sure.” He said, moving towards Pan a bit and taking a firebending stance. He saw Katara following in his footsteps with a waterbending pose. She looked somewhat absentminded, her mouth still a bit open.

Before Aang managed to wake up completely and speak to Pan, Toph screamed at Bulla, distracting him:

“Hey, are we fighting or are you just going to float there and watch them? You had enough already?”

“Hardly so.” Bulla responded, turning to her. “Your transgression against my family name still goes unpunished. And do not assume that this chunk of rock gives you any advantage. Just like I destroyed those planets, I can destroy this one too.”

She then fired another blast of energy at the orb. Toph however slid it out of the way.

“I have no doubts that you can, Veggie Pants. Assuming that you can ever hit it, that is.” Toph said mockingly.

“Remember to conserve your energy, kids, you will be going through the exercises afterwards.” Whis said.

“Yeah, whatever.” Bulla said, smiling at Toph maliciously. Aang continued to stare at them, but then was distracted by Pan:

“Hey, Aang, Katara, do you copy?” She said. Aang was not sure what she meant by the word copy, but she spoke yet again: “Don’t worry, we will go easy on each other. Okay. Let’s do something relaxing. You two, try and hit me at least once each. Once you do, you win.”

“Oh, okay.” Aang said. He then took a short look at Katara. She apparently snapped out of her confusion from before, as she looked at Pan directly and spoke:

“That’s doesn’t sound so bad. I hit Bulla yesterday a few times.”

“That’s because she was not using much of her Chi.” Pan said. “I will use the full power of my base form from the start. Don’t worry, I will just dodge and nothing else.”

“Okay…” Katara said. Her face mirrored Aang’s thoughts. Full power of the base form sounded a bit scary, whatever the base form was supposed to mean.

She then quickly closed the distance to Pan and tried to kick her in the head. Pan just made a step backwards.

“Come on, put your heart into it. You too, Aang!” Pan said.

Aand nodded and moved in. He tried to do a firebending punch at her, except with no fire. She dodged that as well, moving away a bit again.

Both Aang and Katara then started a longer sequence of kicks and punches directed at Pan. She kept dodging them effortlessly, sometimes by side or back steps, sometimes by bending her body and sometimes by jumping. As Aang and Katara tried to hit her, their auras grew stronger and stronger.

As they danced around like this, Aang tried to observe what Bulla and Toph were doing.

The blue haired girl was flying forwards, sideways and backwards, avoiding multiple earthy arms and pillars flying at her each time she tried to get close to Toph. She also fired a bunch of those light orbs every now and again, but Toph either blocked them with small rocks or dodged them.

“Hey, are you ever going to do anything else?” Toph asked. “I feel like I am falling asleep here!”

Bulla just grunted in effort and then jumped forward yet again. This time however, instead of dodging the earth block, she moved onto its top and ran on it, covering more distance this time.

Toph reacted to it by extending another block on the side and moving it in a manner similar to a hand of a clock, in order to swat Bulla sideways. Successfully. As the Saiyan was being pushed, Toph made an earth punch in her direction, tossing her away. The side attack and front attack combined into a single column before contracting back.

Then, Bulla jumped forward again. Toph performed another side attack. This time Bulla rotated herself and bounced against it towards the ground: only to encounter another block of earth heading for her.

Bulla managed to use her flight ability to twist away from its path, but then Toph bent her arms in a mantis pose, and then pointed the palms at Bulla. Two extended blocks suddenly gained new protrusions aimed straight at the Saiyan. Bulla could not do anything to dodge them this time. She managed to block one, but the other hit her straight at the back.

She did not stay flinched for long however. Rather, she turned herself to Toph and propelled forward again.

“Do not presume that those little love taps will keep me down for long.” She shouted as she flew. Before she finished the sentence, another block of earth flew towards her.

“It would be really pathetic if they did, Veggie Pants!” Toph screamed back, laughing and performing some more earthbending movements.

Bulla was then forced to run away, as this time she was chased by three earthy blocks. Once out of their reach, she tried to fly around and approach from a different angle: only to be welcomed by more protrusions and pillars, sometimes rising from the planet and sometimes from other columns.

Such an exchange continued for a good while. Toph was going out of herself to try and trap the Saiyan girl between multiple attacks such as these. Some of them resembled hands, some of them trees and some were just straight blocks, except extremely fast. Whenever Bulla was unfortunate enough to get hit by anything, she usually paid for it by getting struck some more. Aang decided to count some point. One, two, three, four…

“Come on, Aang, focus!” He heard a scream beside him. Katara jumped away from Pan, breathing loudly. She was looking straight at him. Aang noticed that he did not attack alongside her this time.

“Sorry.” He prepped an airbending battle stance and moved forward.

Both their auras were raging wildly right now. No matter how hard they tried, they could not reach Pan at all. Each time Aang moved, he felt that he was going faster and faster, but so did their opponent.

“Hey, if you want to watch their battle and train with me at the same time… try to use your Chi sense to track them.” Pan said. She made small pause as she avoided particularly elaborate combined attack from Katara and Aang, but otherwise appeared almost unfazed by their efforts.

Katara was growing visibly frustrated as this continued.

“Oh, come on… stop playing around!”

“I could say the same to you!” Pan responded. She was still smiling cheerfully, but her voice had a hint of mockery in it. “Again, put some more heart into it!”

“I’m trying…” Katara responded, breathing a bit louder.

A few more missed hits later:

“You are not doing a very good job at it!” Pan said again.

“Could you just shut up already?!” Katara almost screamed. As she did that, she waved her hand wildly in the water whip form. Aang saw her water pouch tear apart, as the contents flew away from it rapidly.

The water was surrounded by aura. Aang thought for a moment that it was also shining with its own light a bit. Before he managed to take a closer look though, it splashed right in Pan’s face.

Unlike the water attack from the battle with Bulla, this one looked as if it actually did something. Pan visibly flinched and wobbled, losing her balance and then sitting down on the ground.

Katara got a bit perplexed as it happened. She moved over to Pan and said:

“I’m… sorry. I got carried away a bit. Are you alright?”

Pan spurted away some water from her mouth and laughed.

“What are you apologising for, you just won!”

Aang got dumfounded a bit at this.

“Oh…” Katara sighed. “Well…”

“We didn’t realise we can attack you with our bending.” Aang commented.

“I never said you can’t.” Pan responded, smiling. “I didn’t mention it because a: I thought you just want to practice hand to hand combat, and slash or b: I thought you will do it anyway sooner or later.”

Katara and Aang just looked at each other, smiling a bit uncomfortably.

“Well, anyway. You won, Katara, you can rest now. Aang, continue, bending or not. Just make sure that you use something that I can feel, I won’t count a wide flame or air wave with no force behind it.”

“Okay!” Aang exclaimed. Katara in the meanwhile just sighed loudly and plopped down to the ground where she stood.

He stood in place for a moment.

“Do you want some of my water?” Katara asked him.

“No, I think I will go with fire.” Aang responded, thinking. He was not sure if he could make a flame dense or strong enough to actually flinch Pan, but he was willing to try.

“Looking forward to it. Give it your best shot!” Pan said, assuming a battle stance yet again.

After a few seconds, Aang began by throwing a fire punch at her.

It flew much faster than his fist, but Pan dodged it effortlessly anyway.

He followed that up with a few more, and then started to mix up some fire kicks and side slices, but neither of them connected.

“How did Katara reach you with that water?” Aang asked, growing a bit frustrated himself.

“She caught me off-guard.” Pan said. “And as an extra hint, I can’t recognise when you attack with elements and when just with your hands.” She added, dodging another fire punch. “Those bending moves look just like normal martial arts.”

“Actually, many bending techniques can be used as martial arts. I used waterbending moves as contact attacks myself.” Katara commented.

A few more of Aang’s attacks followed.

“By the way, how does Toph keep hitting Bulla? Is she weaker than you?” Aang asked.

“Ohohoh… Aah!” Pan’s laugh has been caught short as another fire punch barely missed her head. “Don’t say that to her, or you’re in for a pounding after Toph. We are more or less even.” She paused to dodge a fire blast, and then she continued: “But she is attacking Toph, mind you. I am focused on nothing but dodging. If I was trying to attack myself, I would probably eat a lot of that fire already.”

Aang breathed in and tried to abandon all emotion. This made sense. And it gave him some ideas for improving his strategy.

From what he saw during the fight, Pan did not use either her flight or energy attacks to aid her dodging. Given how she expected them to use their bending in a time of necessity, she was probably saving those abilities for later as well. In order to hit her, he needed to trick her to use them.

He performed another fire kick. This time however, he made sure to produce much wider flame out of it, hoping to get Pan floating. And indeed, she jumped high up above the wave, despite it being almost certainly too weak to actually flinch her. Just as he expected, she dodged it simply out of habit.

He followed that up immediately with a giant flip-kick, that created a large overhead fire whip. Pan, still in the air, had no way to dodge it without involving her Chi powers.

Aang focused intensely, trying to figure out what she will do. Take the hit, fly away, blast away to the side?

Pan took the third option. When Aang saw one of her arms extend to the left, he aimed to the right.

Expect he did not attack with fire. Instead, after his own landing from the kick, he switched to an earthbending stance and bent some earth from the direction in which Pan was headed, aiming it right at her.

The attack connected. Pan gasped loudly, losing her breath, as the earth chunk shattered to pieces upon contact. She lost most of the momentum and fell to the ground almost straight down. After she landed and caught her breath, she exclaimed loudly:

“That was amazing! You guessed what I would do if you attacked me in the air! And you used a different bending as well! Were you two attacking so mindlessly before to throw me off guard?”

“Well…” Aang was a bit flustered. There was a different reason for it, but it sounded a bit silly now.

“We thought that it’s an exercise for speed.” Katara said “We did not pay much attention to strategy, only technique.”

“Ah, that!” Pan said and then laughed cheerfully. “Makes sense when I think about it, given what I told you to do. Sorry, usually fights have no specific rules and we do them after other exercises.”

“Indeed.” Whis chimed in, having observed this entire spectacle carefully in silence so far. “We usually warm up both our minds and bodies before commencing any duels or combat practice. Today I indulged miss Bulla though, given her curiosity and miss’s Toph… enthusiasm. I will walk you through some exercises once they are done.”

“Speaking of which…” Pan looked at the pair, still fighting.

 

* * *

 

Toph was growing restless. She kept finding new elaborate ways of pinning down her Saiyan opponent with rocky arms, only to witness her equally verbose responses.

_Does she ever get tired?_

She was focused intensely on finding any signs of exhaustion or sloppiness, any errors to exploit. However, as the battle waged on, Bulla seemed to be getting better and better. Her attacks were becoming sharper, and less and less of Toph’s hits were reaching her.

Toph was getting anxious. She did not want the fight to end by simply losing her breath. Also, she felt a clear pressure from maintaining the planet she was standing on at this small size. If Bulla’s attacks were not going to tire her out, this would. Toph was not even sure what would happen if she lost control over it. She originally intended to either let Whis take care of it, or perhaps to kick it to the orbit and watch whatever came next from a safe distance, but now it seemed less and less likely that she would have the opportunity to do either.

And then Bulla suddenly looked sideways, to where the others were standing.

Given how focused Toph was, this was almost a laughable oversight. She felt a small urge to take a look at what got her opponent’s attention, but she resisted it. Ending the fight was more important.

She pointed one of her arms at Bulla, forming a claw with her fingers. A block of earth of corresponding shape extended. It grabbed the surprised Saiyan a bit over the elbows and below the neck and pulled her towards Toph with immense speed.

Toph in the meanwhile focused, trying to put as much Chi as possible in the next attack. She then stomped the ground really hard, making her small planet shake. Two incredibly dense rocks flew at Bulla’s head and stomach. Unlike the other attacks, these were whole chunks of the orb.

For a moment Bulla looked surprised, staring at the two shining rocks flying towards her.

And then, she smiled.

A bright yellow light appeared around the girl. Then, the two rocks reached her, covering her from Toph’s sight. However, instead of crashing into her, they simply stopped. A few small rocks fell down from there.

The earth arm returned to Toph completely. Except it was missing its end.

Then, the two rocks moved to the sides. Bulla was gripping them both with her hands.

The aura around her was now bright yellow. Her body seemed to shine on its own. What got Toph’s attention the most however was her hair. Instead of being bright blue, it was now radiant yellow. It was also spiked up in all directions, flowing gently as the aura moved around it.

“Rejoice. You have the opportunity to gaze at the legend made true. The power of the Super Saiyan.” Bulla spoke. Her tone shifted away from her usual condescension and amusement into a form of energetic pathos.

“Yeah, a legend known and mastered only by pretty much every Saiyan alive that we heard of.” Pan commented, smiling.

“Silence, peasant. You will not mock the great legacy of our people in my presence.” Bulla turned to her.

At this point, Toph just lost it.

“What just happened to your hair?!” She shouted and burst into laughter. “It looks so stupid! I mean, are you a giant flower or a porcupine boar now?” After a few more seconds of laugh, she added: “Katara, Aang, is that what a frozen orange juice would look like?”

Katara just produced a muzzled giggle, covering her mouth with her hand, while Aang stared at Bulla, smiling uncomfortably. “I mean, I am not sure, I never froze any orange juice...”

“Ice cream is the best comparison.” Pan added, giggling herself.

Bulla just stared at them all. Then she turned towards Toph.

Toph’s laugh was cut short. A wave of cold washed over her, as she looked into her opponent’s eyes. For a moment she wanted to tremble in a sudden outburst of unnatural fear, but she managed to hold herself down. This was the first time she ever felt something like this, and it made no sense to her. She heard of terms such as ‘cold stare’ or ‘murderous gaze’, but how on Earth it could make her…

Bulla’s eyes suddenly got much closer to hers. A strong wind blew, almost throwing Toph off the remnants of her planet, as the Saiyan girl flew over to her nearly instantaneously.

“Hello there.” She said in a completely calm and friendly tone.

“Ummm, hey?” Toph responded. She instinctively lifted her hands up into an earthbending form.

“I just came to give this back.” Bulla said.

She then smashed Toph with the rocks she was still holding.

Toph managed to shield her head with both hands, thanks to them being already up. She still felt as if she was hit on the head by an anvil from both sides. She saw a lot of orange light and heard an incomprehensible thundering noise as the rocks broke.

When this was over, Toph’s head was spinning. She managed to guess that the blue-yellow shape in front of her was Bulla.

“You won’t need this anymore.” She said.

She then pointed her hand at Toph’s planet. A white ball of energy appeared. Bulla fired it right under Toph’s feet.

The explosion tossed the earthbender high up in the sky. Then, Bulla suddenly appeared in front of her and kneed her in the stomach.

Toph was send flying back towards Beerus’s world.

 

* * *

 

Katara looked at Toph flying towards the ground, barely able to follow up. She then saw a huge explosion of dust and dirt and felt a shockwave as the earthbender crashed.

Katara made a small shout and then jumped forwards.

“Toph, are you alright?” she shouted. And then she stopped mid-way, her jaw dropping.

Toph stood up and looked at Bulla.

“Hey, Veggie Pants, I’m still standing! Was that the best you… Oh… nevermind…”

She then wobbled and fell down on her face. “Toph!” Katara shouted again, moving over to her.

“I don’t think it was my best, but it was surely enough to reunite you with the dirt, where you belong.” Bulla said, floating down.

Katara got surprised again to hear Toph’s talking.

“Ha, ha, very funny… Jeez, are you this butthurt over a stupid nickname? For a moment you looked as if you wanted to kill me.”

The earthbender girl managed to rotate herself on her back as she was talking. Katara was now next to her, examining her head.

“Spirits, you’re bleeding.” She said to Toph. “Can’t you control yourself, you psycho?” She shouted at Bulla, reaching for her water pouch.

“As a matter of fact, I can, and I just demonstrated that. I struck her with the exact strength required to dazzle her and knock her out.” Bulla responded. She then turned to Toph. “If I really wanted you dead, you would be dead.”

Katara hissed at her, but then looked back at Toph whilst covering her with a layer of water.

“And as for the nickname…” Bulla started.

Toph’s body was suddenly enveloped by a burst of white light. Katara was staring at her own hands and at the shining layer of water around Toph in disbelief, her aura raging wildly.

“Hey, what’s going on…” Toph murmured.

Then, an aura arose around her too, mixing in with Katara’s. They both intensified, forming a large white column of light floating around them.

It lasted for a good few seconds. Then, Toph suddenly spoke:

“Can you turn it off, I feel better now.”

“Umm, yeah, sure…” Katara moved away, tossing the water aside. The light disappeared and their auras became weaker.

“Okay, what was that?” Pan asked.

“I was healing her, but I did not expect…”

“You can heal? This is amazing!” Pan said. “You can replace Whis on healing duty then!”

“Unless miss Katara will be out of energy or injured herself.” Whis said. “It is a wonderful ability regardless. Not only that, but you also transferred some of your Chi to miss Toph, which is just as useful.”

“I did what?” Katara asked, stomped.

“You managed to give Toph some of your own energy. She was completely exhausted from keeping that planet squeezed but now she appears to be somewhat revitalised.” Bulla said. Toph was getting up in the meanwhile, indeed looking completely fine.

“Well, I am not complaining.” Toph said. “Hell, I feel like I could keep fighting you, Veggie Pants.” She then became a bit stern and added: “Oh, sorry, I mean Princess Bulla. Better avoid using nicknames at you, or you will get all murdery again.”

“I don’t think that you could actually fight, you are far away from your full power from what I sense.” Bulla responded. “And as for the nicknames, I was going to say that I do not care that strongly to what you call me, or what do you think of Super Saiyan transformation. I admit that it looks somewhat ridiculous and also that my family surname could be bit more dignified. But I would rather prefer if you refrained from offending them, as they both mean a lot to me.”

“Okay, then what was the deal with that death stare?” Toph asked.

“It was a deliberate attack. And it worked.” Bulla said.

“A death stare? An attack? What are you two talking about?” Katara asked.

“Bulla looked at me as if she wanted to kill me and I felt some cold or something.” Toph said. “I thought that she, I don’t know, that she meant it for real and that I somewhat sensed it.”

“You sensed a wave of negative energy being flung at you. Chi can be projected out of the body in multiple forms.” Whis chimed in. “Just as it can become something tangible, like fire or light, it can also become things immaterial, like feelings or vitality. Katara transferred part of her current vital reserves to Toph whilst healing her, while Bulla projected her Chi as a feeling of strong aggression. Your bending abilities are in fact a decent representative of this concept, as they project your movements, thoughts and intentions onto the respective elements with your Chi.”

“There you go.” Bulla commented. “I merely projected aggression at you. You should be able to do it too with some training.” She said to Toph.

“Okay, good to know, Spikehead.” She responded.

“Excuse me?” Bulla asked.

“Well, you won the fight and you explained politely why you challenged me over your nickname. So out of respect I gave you a new one.” Toph was now imitating Pan’s innocent asshole smile.

Bulla stared at her a bit malevolently.

“Oh, don’t go all evil on me again. Your head looks like it’s covered in spikes, so Spikehead. Hell, it might even look somewhat intimidating, if you covered your face with a mask or something.”

“Whatever.” Bulla responded. “We will get back to it at some point. For now, I would look forward to fighting you, Aang.”

Aang looked a bit freaked out. Katara stared at Bulla with an actual murderous spark in her gaze.

“Ummm, sure, but I don’t think I will be much of a challenge to you…” Aang said.

“Relax, we will just spar. I will let you warm up and I won’t trash you the way I did Toph.” She added. Toph joined Katara in staring at Bulla murderously.

“Now, now, you had enough fighting for the time being.” Whis interrupted. “It is time to introduce you to the regular exercises that you will be undertaking here. If you will still have energy left after those, you can have another fight.”

“Ah, very well. Let us commence the exercises then.” Bulla said and powered down, returning to her normal state. Nobody else said anything. Aang sighed in relief.

“Follow me. We will now move to the edge of the world. To save time, I recommend either flight, or run, as per your preference.”

And so they did. Whis hovered a few feet in the air and floated forward, while the group ran behind him.

Katara could not stop thinking about that healing act from before.

“Wait, I want to be sure of something. When I transferred my Chi to Toph, it was just temporary, right?”

“Indeed.” Whis said. “You shared a part of what I would call your current accumulated Chi. You did not give her any of your Chi potential. Such an act is possible, but way more difficult to accomplish.”

“You mean it is possible to take away someone’s Chi for good?” Bulla asked.

“I was talking about gifting it actually, but yes, stealing is also possible.” Whis responded. “However, the difficulty remains the same: in order to either give or take someone’s Chi permanently, you need to have a strong and deep understanding of them. I would dare to say, almost as deep and intuitive as the knowledge of yourself.”

“Wow. Then I bet Bulla’s Chi is up for grabs for everyone. It’s hard to find someone who talks more about themselves than her, after all.” Pan commented. The Team Avatar giggled in unison.

“Such lowly insinuations. I could expect them from someone as crude as yourself.” Bulla responded.

“Look who’s talking, miss My Pride is Oh So Butt Hurt. Do you have any aspirations in life except being Saiyan Princess and marrying Cado?”

“Marrying who?” Katara asked.

“Oh, he is the son of Broly, one of the friends of our family. Half Saiyan, half whatever race his mother Cheelai is. Bulla thinks that he is the only person worthy of becoming the next Saiyan Prince.”

“Wow. Having big matrimonial plans already?” Katara asked, trying to sound as ironic as possible.

“My marital arrangements are none of your business.” Bulla said, looking a bit annoyed.

“Bleeh, please stop. I listened enough about arranged marriages and family politics from my parents.” Toph said.

“Wait, Toph, you were arranged to marry someone already?” Aang asked, his eyes widening a little.

“No, you dumbass, I wasn’t, my parents just taught me the concept. And even if I was, I would not go along with it anyway. If I ever marry anyone, I will choose them myself.”

“Excuse me. We have arrived at our destination. Please mind your step.” Whis said.

Before them they saw the weird pink void. From this place, Katara could sort of make out the weird brown clouds from behind the pink sky.

Between them and the cosmos there was a purple glass pathway, that seemed to stretch right up to the planet’s corners, and beyond them.

“You will be running along the edge of the world. From here, around the entire planet and back. I expect you to perform three laps in three hours.” Whis said.

“That doesn’t sound so bad.” Toph reacted. “We just got here in like a minute from the lake and we didn’t even try to run fast.”

“Don’t be so cocky. Whis didn’t get to the best part yet.” Pan said, smiling maliciously.

“You will have to carry a weight as you go.” Whis continued. “Right here.”

He summoned his staff and waved it. Five blocks of black metal appeared on the pathway. Each of them had weird wide handles on top, as if they were shields for holding with two arms.

“Put your hands into these handles, lift the weights up and move. Once you are done with three laps, wait here for everyone else. If someone is still at it after three hours, drop the weight and meet us at the lake. Now, Pan will demonstrate.”

Pan indeed moved over to one of the weights. She squatted next to one, put her arms through its handles and then lifted it off.

“Uggh… pffff…” She grunted and huffed. “See… you… a… round…” She started to slowly walk away. The immense weight kept her hunched down as she walked.

“Well? Have a go.” Whis prompted everyone else. Katara moved over to one of the weights and repeated Pan’s movements.

“Hey, will you make the floor disappear from under us as we go?” Bulla asked, as she was getting ready to lift the weight.

“What?” Katara freaked out a bit.

“Not today. I want to gauge what each of you is capable of first.”

“Okay, that’s good to hear.” Aang said, looking a bit shaky.

Katara then tried her own weight. She felt as if her back was going to explode, but she managed to actually move it. Her aura exploded wildly around her again.

“How… the… three… hours…” She heard Aang grunting, as he tried to walk.

“No… sweat… for… me…” Toph tried to say.

“Race… you… to… the… end…” Bulla grunted to Toph.

Both of them began a cacophony of grunts and hisses as they tried to overtake one another. They quickly moved past Aang, who paid no attention to their little contest.

Katara did not say anything, but rather just hissed loudly and followed them.

 

* * *

 

Katara was lying down on the grass near the lake, trying to breathe. It was difficult for her to stay awake. She was not sure if her body desired sleep or just wanted to faint.

Aang was near her. He looked more or less the same as her, breathing loudly through his mouth.

Pan was sitting next to them. She finished the course first and managed to catch her breath already. From what Whis said, it took her only about two hours and twenty minutes.

Katara and Aang arrived ten minutes later, from what they heard. They managed to keep almost the same pace throughout the entire exercise.

Toph and Bulla were still at it. At some point during the second lap, Aang and Katara caught up to them. Whilst initially it appeared that Bulla held the lead and had more of an energy reserve than Toph, it quickly turned out that she was almost as worn out after their battle. The portion of Chi that Toph received from Katara made them almost equal.

As Katara was thinking about their race and some of their antics that they managed to spot (one of the highlights being an attempt by Bulla to push Toph from the world’s edge), she suddenly felt a wave of anxiety wash over her. She started to breathe harder and became more awake. After a few seconds it made Katara sit up.

“Are you alright, Katara? What happened?” Aang asked.

Pan also moved over to her.

“Easy there, breathe.” She said. “You are safe, you are just exhausted. In a moment you will be able to breathe easier. It sometimes gets hard to breathe after an intense effort, it’s normal.”

Few seconds after she said that, it suddenly stopped.

“What happened?” Aang asked again, having moved near her. Katara looked down on her knees.

“I am not sure…” She slowly said. “I was slowly falling asleep, and then… as if I panicked.”

“Sometimes people do that when they are about to fall asleep. They feel as if they were falling down.” Pan said.

“Maybe, I’m not sure. It was… weird. It didn’t feel like falling down.”

“We can ask Whis to have a look at you.” Pan responded. “If you feel anything funny like this during or after the next exercise, go straight to him.”

“And let me know immediately. If you feel too weak to walk, I will call him or carry you to him” Aang added.

“Yeah, sure. Thank you, Aang.” Katara said. Whatever this feeling was, it was now gone.

 

* * *

 

Azula was standing in the middle of a large chamber. She was surrounded by several armoured aliens, members of the Frieza Force. She was offered an outfit matching theirs but decided to stick to her Fire Nation clothing. There wasn’t one matching her size perfectly anyway.

Frieza himself was standing next to the door of the chamber. On the opposite wall there was a large window through which one could see the cosmos.

“We will now begin your training, young princess. I look forward to witness your combat abilities in person.” He said.

Azula bowed shortly, smiling, and said: “I will do my best, Lord Frieza.”

“Good. Your first exercise will be to avoid incoming attacks. These gentlemen will try to hit you with a punch. When any of them succeeds, we pause. Please try to hold them at bay for as long as possible. Are you ready?”

“Yes, Lord Frieza.” Azula responded. She then taxed all of her opponents shortly, laid her sight on the largest one and said: “Please do not go all out straight away, If I may ask. I am not sure if I will be able to keep up.”

The soldiers gave a short laugh in response. “Don’t worry little girl, we will not wreck you… completely.” She heard someone on her side talk.

“Not that we will have time for decent wrecking, if it’s only up until the first punch. How long it will be, three seconds?” The one she spoke to followed up.

Azula squinted and winced a bit. She made sure to not let any malice creep onto her face, but she was boiling up inside. She wished to teach these worthless thugs a lesson in humility, but she needed to maintain her appearance.

“Excuse me, princess, my men get a little rowdy sometimes.” Frieza suddenly spoke. All of his men froze. Azula gave him a short look and could not help but flinch. He wore this unpleasant gaze yet again, the eyes of someone wielding ultimate power over life and death of his subjects, who was now deeply dissatisfied with them.

“You are to treat princess Azula with all due respect and dignity. She is my honoured guest and apprentice. If I hear any complaint from her, there will be severe consequences. Are we clear?”

Azula could tell that all of the soldiers were doing their best to not shake. Some of them were failing. They summoned expressions of stern concentration, that were supposed to mask their fear. Unsuccessfully.

“Yes, sir!” was heard in unison.

“Very well. Let us begin.”

The soldiers nodded. After a few seconds of recovering from the terror they have been through, they jumped towards her.

In the first moment the motion seemed faster than that of any human Azula ever saw. However, she could still follow it clearly with her eyes. She made a side-step to avoid the nearest punch.

And everything almost stopped in place. The white aura appeared around her, more intense than before, as Azula walked away from the extremely slow-moving attack. She made sure to stand in a spot where none of the incoming punches could reach her, and then relaxed.

The soldiers seemed to return to their previous speed. They barely avoided hitting each other, as they all headed towards a single spot. Then they looked at Azula. The faked concentration turned into an open fear on everyone but the largest soldier, who looked annoyed instead.

Indeed, he led the next charge, aiming straight for Azula’s face with his fist. This movement was much faster than the previous ones. Azula concentrated a bit more for a moment, but then noticed that it appeared sluggish yet again once her Chi elevated. She found herself behind his back after walking out of the punch’s trajectory.

“Slippery little girl. How about this!” the soldier shouted, performing a wide round kick.

Faster, yet again. And just as useless, yet again. The other soldiers tried to punch her as she was avoiding the kick, but she just slipped between the two of them and found herself away from the group yet again.

As she waltzed between their attacks, she paid attention to a certain feeling haunting her. She felt as if each of the soldiers had a small sun within them. The stronger her Chi was growing, the stronger the feeling. With time, more and more details about these ‘suns’ were becoming clear. Size, tension, mood, underlying feelings, intents, urges, desires. Given how similar they were to the relevant feeling within her, she assumed those to be the aliens’ Chi.

Azula sensed that not just from the fighting soldiers and herself, but also from Frieza. Whilst her and the soldiers’ little inner ‘suns’ seemed to be steadily growing, his was already gigantic. It was peaceful and cozy, unlike their Chi, but also extremely overwhelming in a way. It was like watching a few cups being filled with water, right next to a calm ocean. Azula felt waves of anxiety whenever this immense Chi got her attention.

Soldiers kept trying to attack her, but their efforts were in a complete vain. Regardless of what tactic or formation they used, Azula was able to be one step away from everything they threw at her.

At some point however she got a little bit too cocky. She managed to get herself completely surrounded at close range. While it was still technically possible for her to move away, for example between the legs of the big guy, she decided to try something else.

She redirected her Chi to her legs and launched a pressurised flame, hoping to propel herself upwards.

The effect grew beyond her expectations. A fire spout exploded below her, throwing all of the soldiers away, while she flew at high speed towards the ceiling. She managed to rotate herself in the air with some more fire and land upside down on her feet.

Before the soldiers managed to react at all, she then bounced back to the floor. She landed on her hands and spun her legs wildly in the air, releasing a circular torrent of flames.

The soldiers got struck by it just as they were getting up again. The blast sent each of them flying with great force at the walls. Then, they slid down to the ground, unconscious.

_As beautiful of a sight it is, I can’t admire it now. Instead..._

“Oh, I am so sorry, Lord Frieza. I got a little bit carried away.”

Frieza however appeared calm, if not downright happy.

“Do not worry, young lady. Your performance was spectacular. You have completed this exercise. And the next one as well, before it even began.”

“Thank you, my lord. Just to be clear, was I to hit each of the soldiers during the second exercise?”

“Indeed, but you already did that, and without much effort it seems. I must admit that you have exceeded my expectations. I intended for these soldiers to aid with your initial training during the next few weeks, but you have them completely outclassed from the start.”

“I did not expect it that I would be this strong, Lord Frieza. I just hope that they will be okay.” Azula summoned some concern in her voice and expression.

“Do not worry about it.” He then walked over to the door. There was something small and round attached to the wall next to it, with some buttons underneath. Frieza touched one and spoke to the device: “Medics to dojo chamber, we have five fainted trainees with slight burns.”

He then turned back towards Azula.

“Perhaps we could acquire another member of your species as a potential sparring partner for you.” He said. “I wouldn’t mind recruiting as many as possible to our cause. And preferably as soon as possible. The Kings already have three of your people under their boot after all. Do you perhaps know anyone whom we can trust?”

Azula frowned a little here, trying to appear lost in thought.

_Straight to the point, aren’t we, Frieza? If I just play along with him, he will have his small army of us in no time. I have to make it quick._

She then said out loud:

“I have a few friends that were still loyal to me in the court. They would definitely help me if I explained the situation to them. Besides, I would be happy to keep them away from my brother. I wouldn’t be surprised if he used them to threaten me at some point.”

“We can try to rescue some of them but remember that we do not want to alarm the Kings and the God of Destruction too quickly. If too many of your friends suddenly disappear, our enemies might suspect something. Perhaps reconsider recruiting someone less noticeable than a court member.”

Azula thought for a moment more. Frieza’s idea was nothing but perfect for her right now.

_And that’s a good reason why I should take someone very noticeable along._

She smiled to herself. She hoped to appear cheerful on the surface, as if she recalled a pleasant memory. She quickly realised who is the ideal target.

_And I will gain a perfect punching bag for the time being._

She smiled even wider at her new idea.

“I think I know some good candidates. I was acquainted with some of the technicians working on the research of the space vessel. Many shared my opinion that we should preserve it and study it’s technology, but my brother did not care much about their opinion. Or their existence, for that matter. It’s likely that he will not notice if one or two of them will suddenly leave.”

Frieza smiled.

“Perfect.” His eyes had this unpleasant spark again. “Let’s try and approach them then. Now, follow me.”

Azula got a bit perplexed, this time completely honestly.

“You mean to search for them right now?”

“Indeed, the time could not be better: The Kings’ allies have recently left your world. Last time they did that, they were not back here for over fourteen hours, which suggests that they have spent the night wherever they went.”

“Perhaps they were taken for a training session, just as I was.” Azula said. She was a bit curious about this herself.

“My thoughts exactly. I believe that it happens on one of the nearby King's worlds. Now, let’s get moving.” Frieza said.

She walked after him from the dojo. After a few corridors they reached the familiar hangar.

“You will be accompanied by two of my men, the same that extracted you from your world before. For your own safety, allow at least one of them at your side at all times. Try to get as many people as possible to join us in one go, but do not over-extend. If we detect their presence, we will notify you. Should this happen, you will have to stay low and lower your power level until they are gone. Do you know how to do it?”

“I am not sure.” Azula responded. She felt her Chi going up and down depending on any current effort, but she was not sure to what extent she could control it.

“Your aura is still around you. Try to relax as much as possible. Calm down and silence any effort, exertion or concentration, and it will affect the Chi floating through you. Do you understand?”

Azula indeed did. This resembled firebending, bringing the lighting generation to her mind.

“I think I do, Lord Frieza. Let me have a go at this.”

She breathed in and relaxed, as if she was putting down a flame she made. She allowed her positive and negative energy to flow freely and made sure to feel as delicate as possible about motion and exertion.

After a few seconds, her aura subsided.

“Very good. Now, make sure that you always stay within the visual range of the guards. I hope that your friend or friends won’t freak out at the sight of an alien?”

“They shouldn’t. They already know that traitor Pecha after all, and those men I am going with are definitely more human looking.”

“Perfect.” Then they stopped in the front of a small ship, the same that Azula arrived in. “Get on board the vessel, and I will call the pilots. You will depart immediately.”

Azula did as he asked without hesitation. After all, she was looking forward to mess around with the Avatar’s friends’ lives.

She sat down in the same spot she occupied on her first trip. She then heard Frieza say: “Miruga, Aprico, report to the scout vessel in dock pad nr 4.”

She did not hear any response. Apparently, he spoke to some form of a long-range communicator, similar to that one on the wall in the dojo.

Soon, the two familiar aliens arrived. The fish guy and the yellow man with horns.

Frieza said something to them, but Azula could not hear it well from this distance.  She was more than certain though that he ordered them to keep an eye for any suspicious behaviour of hers. Problematic, but not impossible to solve.

Soon, they entered the ship. Yellow alien walked over to the seats in front and started to mess around with the gizmos over there.

The second spoke to Azula.

“We have been debriefed about the mission. We will go the location that you specify and track down the people you’re after. First, walk over here.” He gestured towards the panel in the front.

The second alien have already summoned all of the weird images. After a few more button presses, one of them became a detailed map of Azula’s world.

“Please point the spot in which we should land on this map. Preferably one without large population centres near.”

“Hmmm… unfortunately my friends are in the Fire Nation capital, right here. I will have to search for them in the city.”

“We can approach the planet in a different spot, and then fly low and land in a secluded location a few tens of clicks away. With our speed, we will reach the city very quickly.”

“Oh, sure. Then just land us in the place you found me before. I believe it was, like, here?” She pointed at the map.

“Indeed, it was. Very well. Now, go to your seat.”

As she did that, the ship started moving. It flew up a little bit, moved horizontally for a few meters and then flew down towards the bottom hangar hatch.

“When we will be down there, I will accompany you during the search. Lord Frieza wished for us to keep an eye on you.” The fish man said. He sat down in the second chair in front of the panels.

“I understand. It’s really nice of him, isn’t it?” Azula said, sounding innocent.

The two soldiers chuckled a bit.

“Yeah, sure.” The fish man paused here, suppressing the laugh. “We will be there in about 10 minutes. In the meanwhile, my name is Miruga and this here is Aprico. I believe that we did not have the opportunity to introduce ourselves yet.”

“It’s nice to meet you two.” Azula responded.

“Pleasure’s all ours.” The second alien commented. Azula could not help but think that there was some irony in his voice.

During this flight, Azula had a chance to look at her planet through the front window. As they were getting closer to it, she recognised more and more details of the lands on its surface.

Soon, they arrived on the familiar cliffs near a forest. Azula even recognised the rock that she blew up with the alien weapon.

After she and Miruga walked out of the ship, he said to her:

“Now, simply run towards the places you need to visit. I will follow you. If you see any people, slow down and try to act natural. Meanwhile, I will stay hidden and observe you.”

“Of course.” Azula responded.

She then looked in the direction of the city and tensed up a bit. The aura from before returned and she felt a surge of energy coursing through her.

She then launched forward, reaching the forest nearly instantly. The trees were twirling around her as she passed them at an incredible speed.

She soon reached the entrance to the canal that she used before.

“We will check here first. My friend was involved in the research of the ship. If he is not around, perhaps we can find some clues as of where he is now. We will have to stay out of sight until we find him.”

“Very well. Lead the way.” Miruga said.

After a moment, Azula was in the upper canal system, near the familiar grate. She took a look through it, but saw no one, the hall was dark. However, the lights were still on inside the ship.

“I can't see anybody. Can you perhaps use that device of yours?” Azula said quietly.

“There are about 20 people outside the building and one inside the ship.” Miruga whispered back after a few seconds. “Judging from the power level, it’s one of the locals.”

“That might be him. Let’s check.” Azula responded.

She jumped out of the grate and moved into the ship. Compared to the previous incursion, it was almost effortless.

Miruga pointed her twice to change direction. Then, they stopped in front of one of the doors.

“If it's not him, I will knock them out. Is that alright?” He whispered to her.

“Of course. Just don't leave any permanent damage.” She responded, pretending to sound concerned.

“Naturally.” He said, walking towards the door.

It slid open when they approached it, like every other door in this ship. The chamber inside was probably the living quarters of the crew, given the amount of beds present.

Sokka was lying on one of the beds. He held a tablet, just like the one Azula stole, in one hand, and a bunch of papers in the other. He appeared to be reading both. After Azula entered, he turned his head towards her.

“Oh, hello. I thought all of you guys are already…” He began to spoke.

And then, his eyes and mouth both opened wide. He dropped the tablet and the papers onto the bed and got up rapidly.

“Azula? What the h…”

He did not manage to finish. She jumped towards him and embraced him, loudly saying:

“Sokka! I’m so glad that you’re okay!”

He appeared completely dumbfounded.

“What…” He tried to speak again, but then, Azula whispered in his ear:

“Pretend that you are my friend and that you know what I’m talking about. Otherwise, we are both dead.”

She then moved her head away and looked him in the eyes. He was clearly completely lost.

“What… What… What happened? How did you…?”

“I had to escape from the palace, there were assassins after me. I think that they might target you next. We need to run.” She said loudly now, pretending to sound worried.

“What… why? What assassins, why they are after you, and above all else why they would be after me?” Sokka somewhat regained his composure, but his eyes were still like dishes.

“You were my friend and you supported my idea of studying the technology of this ship. That makes you a potential target.”

His eyes were less wide now, but he still sounded lost.

“Okay, but who…?”

“There is no time to explain, let’s go! They could be here any minute now!” Azula now mixed in some concerned impatience into her tone.

“Oookay!” Sokka responded. He grabbed the papers and the tablet. Then: “Where are we going, anyway? And who is this guy?”

“I found us some new allies. He is one of them and he helped me to find you. His name is Miruga.” She gestured towards the namesake alien.

“Hello there, kid.” He spoke, appearing somewhat amused. Azula was not sure at what though.

“Hi…” Sokka smiled at him, still looking confused.

Together, they walked out of the room.

“By the way, do you know where Mai and Ty Lee are?” Azula asked in a low voice.

“Ty Lee is here at the factory, with the other Kyoshi Warriors, they are supposed to be guarding the place.” Sokka responded. He then looked at Azula with a small smirk and added: “Obviously unsuccessfully.” Short pause. “I don’t know about Mai. I guess she is at her home, wherever that is.”

“Oh, no.” Azula again summoned the worried tone. “Then we cannot reach them now without getting exposed. Miruga, we should get back to the ship. I will explain the situation to Lord Frieza myself.”

“If you say so. Let’s move.” Miruga responded.

“Wait, Lord Frieza?” Sokka suddenly sounded more alarmed.

“My new friend and boss of Miruga. He took me under his wing. You will meet him too, he is interested in the abilities of our people.”

“Wait, what do you…”

“Quiet now. We are near the exit.” Miruga interrupted him.

They walked out of the ship and into the grate. After moving deep into the sewers, Sokka said:

“Ah, so that’s how you got inside the shipyard.”

“Yes.” Azula responded. “I know these buildings inside out. This tunnel leads to the shores, far away from the city. Our ship is located on a cliff behind a forest and a few hills.”

“Wait, another spaceship?” Sokka reacted.

“Yes, silly.” Azula now used a friendly scolding tone. “Lord Frieza is from space, just like our friend here. He is currently residing in a large vessel near our planet. We will reach him in a smaller vehicle, a scouting one, if I am not mistaken?” She turned towards Miruga.

“Yup.” The alien said.

“Okay…” Sokka now got lost in thought. Then he suddenly focused back on Azula and asked:

“And how did you even meet these guys in the first place?”

“That’s a long story.” Azula responded. “I will tell you everything once we are on Lord Frieza’s ship. For now, let’s focus on getting there.”

As she finished saying that, they walked out of the tunnel. Sokka looked around. After a few seconds, he noticed the cliff that Azula was talking about.

“Couldn’t you guys land anywhere nearer? It’s not like anyone could notice us here.” He said.

“Maybe not on the ground, but a flying ship would be easily visible from the capital city. And besides, it’s not that far, if you are fast.” Azula responded, smiling.

“Should I carry him?” Miruga asked.

“No need. I will do it.” She said.

“Hey, what do you mean ‘carry me’, I can walk by myself, you don’t need to…” Sokka started.

“Actually, I do. Otherwise it will take ages. Hop on my back.”

“Wait, what?” Sokka looked dumbfounded.

“I will carry you to the ship. Come on now.” Azula was smiling.

“How is that supposed to get us there faster?” Sokka was still lost.

“You will see. I have a new trick up my sleeve.”

Sokka still looked completely confused, but he decided to follow through and put his hands around her neck. Azula grabbed him by his knees, as if giving him a piggyback ride.

“Okay, this is a bit awkward.” Sokka whispered in her ear. “Are we just going to…”

Azula just tensed up, summoning the familiar white fire of her aura. She then crouched a bit.

She could not see how Sokka’s eyes widened at the sight of the flames. However, once she jumped forward, she heard his scream perfectly.

He clutched her neck tightly as they avoided the trees at an incredible speed. As strong as this grip was, Azula did not have any difficulty breathing. Nether she felt any strain from carrying a human on her back.

The trip ended almost as soon as it began.

“We are here. You can get back on your feet now.” Azula said, trying to get past Sokka’s scream, whilst letting go of his knees. He however just kept going at it, apparently not having noticed that they stopped.

“Hey, snap out of it!” Azula raised her tone a bit, and gripped his hands, in order to move them out of her neck. Again, it was as if they offered no resistance at all.

“Ow! That hurts!” Sokka apparently felt his hands being forcibly displaced. He then fell down to the ground, landing on his bottom. He stared at Azula with the widest glare out of all of them so far.

“Come on, let’s get on the ship.” Azula said more gently now, pointing at the hatch behind her.

Sokka moved his jaw up and down a few times, as if he was trying to respond but failing to find his voice. Azula moved over to him and gave him a hand. He stopped moving his jaw and allowed himself to be gently led inside the vessel.

 

* * *

 

This was definitely too much to process in a single go.

How could Azula run this fast or be this strong? Did she have her Chi unsealed? Did she know about the whole ordeal? Did this whole Lord Frieza know? Who he even was? And how did Azula meet him in the first place?

Those questions plagued Sokka’s mind as he was being put on a seat inside a small spaceship. It only had a single room, unlike Pecha’s vessel, but the design and overall feel were familiar.

Before he managed to voice any of these concerns, the ship has taken flight.

Sokka was not really impressed in the first moment. He already flew with incredible speed a few times, including the time on Appa reinforced with Whis’s Chi. However, soon after the scouting vessel started climbing up, Sokka’s attention was consumed by the sight outside the windows.

He saw his planet moving away from him. As they gained distance, the horizon was becoming more and more round. However, before he could see the whole circle, the hull of the ship obstructed his view.

“Oh, come on!” Sokka reacted. “Hey, can you guys turn around so I can take a look at the planet?”

“You will be able to see it from Lord Frieza’s ship.” One of the soldiers mentioned.

“It is quite a sight to behold.” Azula mentioned in a soft voice.

Sokka gave her a short look. Even though he realised (and was explicitly warned by her) that her niceness was a facade, he still found it creepy. Perhaps even more so. What felt weird to him now though was that this sentence felt somewhat genuine. He did not ponder too much on it though, for Azula spoke again:

“Did you hear anything from my brother, Fire Lord Zuko, after you started working on the ship?”

“No, not really. I mean, we just began today, I wanted to give him a short rundown of our initial findings tomorrow.”

“During which he would inevitably tell you that the project is too dangerous to research and that it is to be destroyed. As requested by his new alien friends. When I tried to argue with him about it, he sent the assassins after me.” Azula said. Sokka realised that she tried to make it sound as if she was feeling betrayed.

It did not match at all with what Zuko really did about either Azula or the ship. Not that he could even make such decisions about the latter, the ship was Pecha’s and he wasn’t leasing it to Zuko. However, Sokka understood that this was most likely a cover story that she told to Frieza. Made sense too. Given what Pecha and Pegra both acted like, it was not a pleasant person.

“This is horrible. I never expected Lord Zuko to do something like this.” He therefore said, trying to sound worried as well.

“Unfortunately, we did not always see eye to eye. And with his new alien friends, it could only turn for worse. I heard from Lord Frieza that they are heralds from evil Galactic Kings, who want to conquer our planet. They most likely tricked Zuko with promises of influence and power within their dominion.”

“This sounds bad. Really bad.” He said. His own pretended worried tone managed to improve. It helped that he noticed a barely accented smirk on Miruga’s face. “What can we do about it?”

“Lord Frieza will aid us. You will hear all the details from him personally. As you could notice, he already aided me with my abilities.” Azula responded, smiling. “I am sure that he will help you too.”

That suddenly made so much sense. Azula was probably more than happy to accept a sudden power gift under a guise of ‘helping her people’. However, he was still missing a lot of crucial details, most specifically how it all came to be. Therefore, he said:

“Then I am looking forward to meeting him.”

He remained silent afterwards. His further attempt at gluing his face to the window and catching more of the Earth in his gaze were interrupted by Azula’s overfly friendly and enthusiastic tone.

“Look Sokka, Lord Frieza’s ship!”

He turned towards where Azula was pointing and gasped.

He saw another vessel in front of theirs. He instantly recognised that it was much larger than the one stored on his world. As they were approaching it, he appreciated more and more just how big the difference was.

Soon, they arrived at the bottom hatch: similar in design to the one on Pecha’s craft but almost as large as said ship itself. Then, they moved over to a landing pad inside what appeared to be a large hangar. It was adapted to house a couple tens of ships like this one, plus about ten larger ones, given the number and size of pads, but for some weird reason, only about a quarter of them were occupied.

Sokka did not manage to figure out why it was the case. Their vessel has landed and the hatch has opened.

“Let’s move.” Miruga said, walking out. Azula got up immediately. Sokka was forced to follow her example. Not by any harsh words or threatening looks, but rather by the fact that Azula grabbed his hand again.

Sokka was very happy that Suki could not see him right now. He wondered if he looked as awkward as he felt. He was fully aware that it was just a part of her deception but still, her demeanour was a bit too friendly in his opinion.

After a few minutes, they have arrived at a large chamber with a massive chair, or perhaps a throne, placed upon an elevation accessible by small stairs. Sokka’s previous wish of seeing the Earth in its entirety was now fulfilled, as it was fully visible through a large window. However, he could not savour it for long. From the chair stood up a weird white humanoid creature. Their guide bowed shortly before this figure and left, closing the door behind him.

“Ah, it’s good to see you, princess Azula. I see that you brought your friend with you.”

“Indeed. This is Sokka, one of our engineers back at the Fire Nation. Sokka, meet Lord Frieza.” Azula said.

One look into these eyes was enough for Sokka to fully understand why they needed all of this weird secrecy. Compared to him, Ozai felt like a little koala sheep. His voice was clam and pleasant, but the gaze… not that it was threatening or wrathful at the moment. Sokka however felt clearly that it could, at any point, for any reason. And that he would soil his pants if it did, not mentioning dying.

“I apologise, but the other two friends I was thinking about were out of our reach. And I did not consider anyone else yet. It’s hard to be certain whom I can trust now without some more thorough research.” Azula now pretended to be ashamed. Sokka saw through it immediately, but that was because he knew her and her tricks well enough. Any other person probably would be…

“It is quite alright, my dear. One person is enough for now. Once our guest has been accommodated, we will figure out a way to approach more of them. And in the meanwhile, the two of you can train together.” Frieza sounded happy. More or less. Those weird eyes of his were hard to read, but there was no open malice towards Azula in them.

Sokka was more worried about that last sentence. Train with Azula? How on earth he could do that, if her Chi was unsealed? He was just a normal human, not even a bender. Before he could come to any possible guess though, Frieza turned to him.

“It’s nice to meet you, young man.” The alien spoke. “I have asked your friend to bring you here for an important reason. Your planet is in a great peril. The evil Galactic Kings are planning to conquer and enslave your world. Me and Azula have been looking for allies that could deal with the incoming threat. Would you be interested in aiding us?”

Sokka had no real choice here.

“Of course. I will be happy to help. But what such a lowlife engineer such as myself can do?”

“Oh, don’t be too hard on yourself, Sokka! You are a great fighter, not just an engineer.” Azula interjected. She still sported this weirdly friendly look and tone.

“I believe the princess on that matter. And yet, there is even more to you than you realise. Are you perhaps aware of the secret power that the people from your world possess?”

“A secret power?” Sokka pretended to be surprised. Azula looked at him shortly, still smiling, probably displaying her approval.

“Indeed. An enormous supply of unused Chi sealed away against your will, to be more specific. If it was not hidden, your people would be capable of feats of incredible strength, speed and agility. And much more.”

“Wait, so you had that Chi unsealed?” Sokka now turned to Azula. His tone shifted away a bit from innocently confused to almost accusatory for a moment, before he held himself down. Azula’s eyebrows lowered minimally, but she still kept the friendly mask.

“Yes. After we found out about it, Lord Frieza acquired the ability to release the seal from anyone from our world.”

“And now I would like to release it within you. If you agree, that is. It would be of an immense aid to us, but I will understand if you will have doubts about it.” Frieza spoke.

Sokka pondered on this for a moment. This Frieza guy knew about their secret. Given what all of the vague hints from Pecha and Azula as well as his own observations suggested so far, it seemed to be the last person in the universe who should know.

And Azula knew as well. And she had her powers released.

The only positive so far in this scenario was that he was about to be unsealed too. He recalled their meeting with Beerus, how he was rejected to be included in the group for his supposed ‘low divine Chi level’ right after getting his hopes up, given that Whis initially wanted to take all of them in.

Now, he was being handed the opportunity to gain this power on a silver platter. And he was on top of that supported by one of his worst enemies, for some weird reason.

He therefore decided to take it. Not that he had a choice. He did not really believe that this Frieza guy would just let him go after what he heard and saw.

“I have no doubts.” He spoke. “Please release this hidden power in me, Lord Frieza. I want to help.”

“Magnificent. A wise choice, young man.” Frieza said. “Now, please hold still.”

The alien walked over to him and raised his hand, aiming an opened palm at Sokka’s forehead.

A white light suddenly surrounded him, blinding him to everything but Frieza. He felt many waves of heat flowing through his body, combined with some weird pressure. It was as if something tried to squash him, but only in his mind. Or perhaps, spirit. Sokka did not have any deep knowledge or understanding of Chi, or spirituality in general, therefore he was not really able to describe this feeling.

After a few seconds, it stopped. He felt more or less the same as before.

Frieza was however smiling in a satisfied manner. Whatever he did just now, it must have worked.

“Can you feel it, princess?”

“Indeed, Lord Frieza” Azula spoke, smiling herself. “I am not sure how it compares to mine, but, still…”

“Yours is more potent, no doubt. But this is not bad either. You should be a decent match during your training, assuming that combat abilities of your friend are up to the challenge.”

Sokka stared at them.

“What are you talking about exactly?”

“About your Chi, of course. Spirits, you are so slow sometimes.” Azula spoke. She allowed some of her usual condescending tone to resurface.

“How do you feel, Sokka?” Frieza asked.

“I am not sure. Normal, I guess? I mean, how am I supposed to…”

As he was speaking, he started to move around a bit. Pace a few steps, look at his hand. And then he checked out one of his biceps.

When he did that, a strong heat emanated from his hand throughout his entire body. He was surrounded by a white light. He saw it before a few times.

“It’s your aura, Sokka!” Azula said, answering a question he was about to ask. “This is what your Chi looks like when its flowing freely!”

“Okay, if you say so.” Sokka said, sounding unconvinced. “Now, not that I mind being suddenly surrounded by some shiny smoke, but how do I turn it off?”

“Oh? You do not know how? Azula did not have a problem with that.” Frieza commented, sounding perplexed.

“Ah, forgive me, Lord Frieza. I forgot a certain important detail. Sokka is a non-bender. That is, he cannot control any element the way I can. And therefore, he is not used to utilising his Chi.” Azula explained.

“Oh, I see. Well then, he will have a chance to learn. We will go to the dojo, and you two will spar.”

“Sure!” Her tone now shifted to enthusiastic. She then moved over to Sokka, grabbed his hand again, and said. “Come on, let’s try out your new abilities.”

Sokka was a bit scared of the concept of sparring with her, and her creepily friendly demeanour was not helping. However, he was also curious as of what he was capable of now, so he just played along.

“Yes, of course! Let’s go, and get the floor wiped with my humble self…” His tone gradually dropped as he said that.

“Oh, don’t be so grim, I will go easy on you.” Azula was still in her cheerful mode. And it was not helping.

“Let us go.” Frieza spoke.

They moved out of this chamber, following his lead. They walked a few doors away into a large room, about the same depth as the throne chamber, but much wider. They both walked to the centre, stopping a few meters away from each other.

“There you go. And, princess, please refrain from using your bending for fighting, I would rather avoid any needless damage to the ship.” Frieza said.

“I will do my best, Lord Frieza.” Azula responded. “Come on, Sokka, let us fight.”

“Uhhh, okay.” Sokka tried to keep his concern out of his voice, with a poor result. “Can anyone just give me any hints how to use this whole Chi in combat?”

“Just relax and act normal.” Azula responded, sounding supportive. “Your Chi should support your physical movements according to your needs. And don’t worry, you know that I am not going to hurt you.” Her expression and tone suddenly shifted. “Much.” She whispered, smirking and tensing up. Her own aura appeared around her when she did.

Sokka was wondering how much time alive he had left.

Then Azula bolted towards him.

Her movement was blurry. Sokka felt a dire need to scream, and jump away, expecting impending death.

Except it did not come. Right before her fist reached his face, time seemed to have slowed down. He tracked her move as he jumped away to the left.

He did not think of any attack. Not that he had time to: when she noticed that he is about to dodge, she broke off her attack, realigned herself and jumped again with another punch.

The motion felt unnaturally fast yet again. And yet again, it suddenly slowed down as Sokka was jumping away from it while letting out a small shriek.

This pattern repeated itself a few times. Azula kept performing faster and faster attacks, and Sokka kept jumping away. As the time went on, he sort of calmed down and focused on observing how his adversary moved.

He recognised the firebending fighting style in her movements, except there was no fire this time. He spent enough time watching Zuko and Aang do these moves to remember them quite well. After recalling most of them, and tying a few threads in his head, he prepared for a counterattack.

When Azula jumped at him with another flameless fire punch, he did not jump away. He instead grabbed her arm, pulled himself a bit forward alongside it, then grabbed it with his other hand, and threw her to the floor, using a leg sweep to knock her off her feet.

She recovered quickly by crouching up and rolling forwards, getting out of his grip. When Sokka tried to follow her, she suddenly performed a wide spinning kick with both legs, successfully discouraging him moving forward. Then, she jumped back up on her feet.

She breathed in a bit more heavily, brushed off some of her hair aside and then jumped forward again.

This time it felt even faster than before. Sokka managed to block this attack by pushing it away with his forearm, but he still felt its power. Azula followed up with another hit very quickly. Sokka, not knowing what to do, punched back. Their fists connected.

Suddenly Sokka grasped just how much speed and strength they have been exerting. This collision caused a large shockwave, even opening a few cracks in the floor. Sokka felt it painfully in his whole arm. They both sprung away from each other due to the force.

“Not bad, Sokka” Azula said, pretending to be friendly again. “But be warned. I was just warming up!”

Another punch. Faster than before. Sokka managed to dodge it, only for Azula to suddenly withdraw it and transition into a kick instead.

Sokka manage to block it with both of his forearms. Azula did not wait for him to react though, but rather continued with a flurry of attacks of all kind. Kicks, punches, spins and jumps: they kept going for a little while with this dance.

“Very good!” Azula screamed. She allowed some of her usual craziness to slip in. “I did not expect you to last this long!”

“Neither did I!” Sokka responded.

“Well then, how about this!” Azula jumped away. She then suddenly flipped to her hands and performed this spin kick yet again.

This time however, it was followed by a wide wave of flames. Sokka had no way to either dodge it or block it.

In desperation he threw both of his hands forward, as if he wanted to push the flame away.

And it split to the sides, without touching him at all. He barely felt any heat.

Azula jumped back on her foot, turned towards him and said:

“Oh, I am terribly sorry Sokka! Are you…”

The feigned worry died down in the middle, replaced by something closer to disappointment: “Okay…”

Sokka just stood there, staring at his hands.

“Did I just… firebend?”

The realisation struck him. When he moved his hands forward to deflect the flames, he did feel something weird in them. Was that the feeling of bending?

“Ha, watch it Azula, for now, Sokka the Boomerang guy becomes Sokka the Firebender!”

With this shout he thrust his hand forward again in a fake punch, trying to invoke this feeling again.

And about meter long spout of smoke and weak flames ejected from his arm.

Sokka stared at the smoke as it was dispersing in the air. This little fire fart was bigger than Zuko’s when he lost his bending, but not by much. Compared to the wave of death Azula just summoned, it was laughable.

Azula stared at him in disbelief for a moment. Then she suddenly composed herself back and said:

“More like Sokka the Smoking Failure. This little poof would not be enough to mess up my hair.” Azula allowed almost all of her usual condescending tone to resurface here. After a few seconds of annoyed Sokka staring at her, she added: “Come on, give it another go!” This time with some feigned friendliness yet again.

Before he manged to do anything, Frieza spoke.

“I would rather you not. I believe that I asked you to not use your fire abilities onboard this ship.”

Some irritation crept into his voice, with his eyes following suit with a small squint. Azula wasted no time:

“Apologies, my Lord, I got carried away again. I just cannot believe that Sokka suddenly became a firebender!” She shifted her tone from guilt to joy. Frieza’s expression softened.

“Of course, princess. Naturally, I do not wish you to stop developing your abilities, quite the opposite. You will just do it in a bit safer environment. We shall be flying away shortly to one of our planets.”

“Of course, my Lord.” Azula performed a short Fire Nation bow. She then turned towards Sokka and spoke. “Let us recommence the hand to hand combat practice.” The moment she was turned away from Frieza, a murderous smirk has appeared on her lips.

“Yay...” Sokka responded, sounding as deflated as it was humanly possible.

 

* * *

 

Katara wandered around the bed. She has already changed into her night gown, now she was making her clothes.

“May I come in?” She heard a weak voice from behind the door.

“Yes, of course.” She responded, keeping her voice low as well. Toph have already dropped unconscious onto her bed and they didn't want to wake her up.

Aang entered the room. He did not have any specific night clothing except for pants, and he carried his already folded garments with him.

“Ahhhh, finally, a nice warm bed...” He said. He put the clothes on a night table and then threw himself on the sheets.

Katara soon followed suit. She almost fell down onto the bed, happy that she did not have to move anymore.

“Jeez, I did not expect this training to be THIS deadly...” Aang murmured. “I just hope that Whis does not have anything else up his sleeve... I felt like dying after that obstacle course but nooo, he had to throw in another lifting session…”

“I think he does have more...” Katara murmured back. “He said that there will be more new stuff each day...”

“Nooo...” Aang clearly did not have any energy left to properly moan at this perspective.

After a short pause, he somewhat woke up, even lifting his head a bit and looking at Katara.

“Did you feel this anxiety again? Remember, when you suddenly lost your breath for a moment?” He asked, with some concern in his voice.

Katara had to think for a few seconds before managing to recall what he was talking about.

“Ahhh, that... No. I did not. I kind of forgot about it...”

“And you are alright now?” Aang asked again.

Katara paused for a few seconds.

“I think so, I don’t feel anything... I tried to relax and feel it again, but I just... just....”

And that was the last concise thought she managed to produce that day. She fell into a deep sleep, unbothered by any feelings or mares.

 

* * *

 

Sokka was lying down on a bed. He wondered if there was any part of his body that did not hurt. He was failing to find one though.

The ‘training’ continued for a few hours after the incident with fire. Azula kept her word and did not try to bend again. It did not stop her from completely decimating him. Whilst Sokka was able to keep up with her movements for a while, it did not last long. Soon she started to score hits and bruises on him. And she kept going, connecting more and more attacks and visibly enjoying each and every one.

Sokka did not have to continue the fight, they were told by Frieza that they can stop at any time if either of them demands it, but he wanted to last as long as it was possible. After all, a much worse threat loomed in the distance and they needed to be ready for it, whatever it took.

And thus, he was turned into what felt like a single giant bruise, lying on a bed and contemplating the meaning of life and sense of suffering.

Azula was sitting on her own bed, looking at the glass tablet, the same that Sokka brought with him. Unlike him, she was in a pristine state. That was not much of a problem to him. The problem was that she opted for them to stay in the same room whilst on the ship, as a part of the ‘friendliness’ ploy. Which meant that he would suffer her company for way longer than he preferred.

“Not that I expected anything else from you, but did you have to thrash me this badly?” He moaned. Not that he cared much being defeated at this point, but the physical pain and the overall situation made him want to complain about anything.

“Oh, Sokka, it would be impolite if I didn't put the PROPER effort in. Believe me, I shall not disrespect my absolutely precious friend by not giving it my all.” Her tone resembled the overly kind one she sported in front of Frieza, but this time it was oozing with mockery, particularly accentuated at the ‘friend’ part.

“Please... stop...” Sokka had more than enough of that tone, ironic or not.

“Besides, how could I not abuse a chance to pummel a water peasant to dust? Your so-called combat abilities, or rather lack thereof, were just begging to be exploited.” Friendliness was slowly washing away.

“Ahhh, much better...” Sokka murmured “Finally, the Azula I remember...”

“What, you prefer when I ridicule and mock you, rather than when I pretend to be nice?” Some curiosity was hinted here.

“At least I know what to expect from you when you are a jerk...” Sokka said.

“Oh, is that so? Am I that predictable now?” She asked, mockery still present in the tone.

“No, I just know you better than you think...” He moaned back.

“Hah, that's a bad joke if I ever heard one. You indeed live up to your reputation of a pathetic comedian.”

“Whatever...” Sokka did not have the strength to argue, or perhaps to try something humorous.

After a few seconds, he recalled something.

“Just out of curiosity, how did you even end up on a Frieza Force ship?”

He did not expect that Azula would be willing to answer, but:

“The aliens found me when I was wandering near that cliff where we took off from.”

Naturally, she was not being honest with him. But it was a start. She was willing to speak with him and he could work with that.

“They just ‘found’ you? Just walked down the path you were on and said ‘hi’?” He asked.

“Naturally. I was alone, away from any civilisation, and they noticed that. Except they didn’t walk but fly in a ship.” Azula’s tone was now neither hostile nor mocking. A bit condescending, but calm.

“And you didn’t try to hide or anything? You just waited for an alien ship to come and grab you?” Sokka kept trying.

“Given everything you know about them so far, you should know that I hardly had any choice in the matter. And that cliff was not exactly a good hiding spot from something that can fly.” She did not even flinch.

“Right, right, they have scouters and flying saucers. Hard not to notice the latter. It’s right there, wherever I look.”

“Exactly. Now, would you let me read in peace, or do you have any other pointless questions?” Even though her words suggested some impatience, her tone was even calmer than before.

“I could think of a few. For example: what were you even doing on that cliff?” Sokka again did not believe that he would get an honest answer, but there was nothing wrong with trying. There was always hope that she would make a mistake.

“Wow, you have really outdone yourself this time. Come on, think. What could I possibly be doing in a middle of nowhere far away from any nearby population centres?” Now she was using more mocking tone.

“That’s a very good question which by the way I just asked you. And I did so because you could have been doing anything in there, actually. Or more specifically, you could have been doing anything before you got there to hide from eventual consequences.” He tried to not sound accusatory when he spoke, but he could not avoid this tone at the end.

“And there was me thinking that a wanted fugitive did not need any other reason to hide besides being a fugitive. Did the simplest answer really not cross your mind?” Back to condescending.

“Simplest answers don’t go with you very well. I would be aiming for the most complicated one from the start.” Sokka responded.

“Awww, now you flatter me. And yes, my stay on that cliff had a bit more complicated reason than just hiding. Maybe it had something to do with getting a stroll and enjoying a fresh breeze, who knows?” Condescending tone intensified.

“Yes, or perhaps I am a purple slime and live in a sewer eating elephant rats.”

“You definitely look the part.” Back to mocking tone.

“Perhaps, but you definitely don’t look like a person who just takes ‘strolls’.”

“Maybe not. But even if I had any specific reason to wander around there, I have no obligation to explain my private affairs to you. Who knows, maybe I was on a date?”

Sokka chuckled here.

“Yeah, maybe a date. Didn’t you perhaps date a bunch of looneys that pretended to be evil spirits by any chance?” Now it was his turn to sound condescending.

“And what are you even talking about now? Apologies, but as a fugitive I am not up to date with everything that was going on in the city.” Azula asked. Still perfectly calm.

“There was an escape from the mental facility that you were housed in. Six people. They were caught wandering the city in the disguises of spirits called the Kemurikage. Does anything ring a bell?”

“You ask me why a bunch of looneys decided to run around the town and pretend to be ghosts? Despite what you might think, I consider myself a relatively reasonable person.” Sokka chuckled here, and her lip twitched, but she continued: “But perhaps I met them before, after all we were in the same facility. Do you remember any names?””

“They were led by a girl named Zirin. From what we got out of them, she orchestrated their escape and then led their little band in whatever they were trying to accomplish.”

“Oh, I remember her. She was quite nice, for a looney. And she indeed was planning an escape for a long time, with a bunch of other people. But I was not very interested in that plan.” Azula’s tone changed a bit, losing some of the usual mockery.

“Oh, you were not interested in escaping. What else is new? Maybe the sun is black?” Condescending tone intensified on his end.

“I was not interested, because I was literally the most guarded prisoner in the facility. There were always at least three people staring at me from multiple directions, unless I was in my cell. In which case, they were staring at me from behind thick one-sided mirrors. All day and all night, in changing shifts. And for that matter, anyone who talked to me for too long was under a strict observation as well. Oh, and there was an extra contingent of guards on duty, just in case. Frankly, no escape was possible from this place while I was there. Zuzu’s little idea of giving me some freedom must have been a perfect opportunity for them, it seems.”

Sokka has gotten silent for a moment. He did not believe that she did not want to escape. But given what he just heard, he did not feel like pointing that out. She was again perfectly calm whilst describing this, but something felt off.

“Did you have any contact with them afterwards?” He asked, after processing for a few seconds.

“No. Forgive me, but I had more interesting things to do after my own escape. Like hiding. Or trying to survive on my own without revealing who I am to anyone. Now, have you finished your little interrogation, or will you perhaps ask for my exact hiding spot, so that Zuko’s guards may storm it and capture me in my sleep?”

Sokka stopped here. Her voice lost its perfect tone for a moment. He was not sure why though. Was he getting close to the truth, or perhaps was she reacting to the memories of the asylum? Then, something clicked in his head. Perhaps he could soften her a bit.

“Speaking of guards, you do know that you are not ‘wanted’ anymore? Zuko has rescinded the bounty after you and paused all search for the time being.”

This got Azula’s attention. Her tone and expression shifted completely, and she also stopped staring that the tablet in front of her. She glared at Sokka for a few seconds, before finally asking:

“And why would he do that?”

“He was hoping that if you were not a fugitive anymore, you would return home by yourself.”

She laughed here. Her eyes were cold.

“What, did he hope that I will gently walk back into the looney house by myself?”

“No, he did not want that. In fact, he wanted you to return to the actual home. You know, the palace. Supposedly back to being the princess of the Fire Nation.”

Azula had another pause for processing. Finally, she spoke, with a hint of anger in her voice:

“You can tell my precious brother that if he thinks that I will walk right into such an ordinary trap, he can do everyone a favour and lock himself up in the asylum, he apparently badly needs that.”

“Don’t want to go back to living in the palace and being worshipped for absolutely no reason at all, fine, suit yourself with hiding on cliffs and eating berries. Just to be certain though, you know that your brother wants you back there because he cares about you?”

“He, cares about me? You mean he cares about knowing my every move so I can’t do anything that he disapproves of?” She turned away from Sokka and back to pretending to read the tablet, but her voice was still angry.

“If that was the case, he would have put even more effort into throwing you back in the asylum, not reduce it to zero.” Sokka responded. “No, he cares about you because you are, in his opinion, his family, and for some reason, he wants to treat you as such, despite literally everyone telling him that it’s crazy.” He paused here again, and she was silent. “And now you don’t need an extra reason to lock him up with the looneys, this one will do.”

Azula sniggered here a bit. This was probably the first time ever when Sokka saw her laugh from an actual amusement. Her expression shifted weirdly for a moment, but he did not get a chance to figure out what it was. Her usual condescending demeanour returned when she spoke:

“Well, Zuzu’s mental health or lack thereof is of little concern for us now. We have bigger problems on our heads now. And that brings me to a question of mine: How on Earth such a lowly water peasant like yourself was able to firebend?”

Sokka hesitated for a moment with answering, as it regarded the whole Chi issue, but then he figured that this part was one of the least problematic aspects of it.

“It was because of the unsealing. Katara and Toph told me that they were able to bend multiple elements when their Chi was freed. I was a non-bender before, so perhaps now I have been gifted with SOME element to bend. Not sure why it’s fire of all things, but hey, I’m not complaining.”

Azula stopped to think for a moment.

“You think I would be able to do that to? To use different elements, as they did?” There was some genuine curiosity in her voice.

“I don’t know yet how it works exactly. It stands to reason that you should though. We can try that out when we are allowed to bend again.” He responded. “My turn: how did Frieza and yourself learn of all this? And what do you know about it exactly?”

“My, my, you ask me so many questions and I am only allowed one? That's quite unfair. You really do make me feel like I am being interrogated.” Azula moaned, in a pretended irritation.

“This is literally the most important secret of our world. Forgive me, but the fact that someone other than me and my friends knows about this is making me very nervous. Especially if that someone is an evil space emperor. And you. Not sure which is worse. Why in the hell would you tell him something like this?”

“Sokka, Sokka, Sokka. You should know that I hold our world's best interests at heart.” Now it was his turn to snigger here. “I would not reveal this secret to him if I knew about it before he did. It's way too valuable, not mentioning dangerous in the wrong hands.” Her tone was now back to her usual condescending calmness.

“Yes, I am aware of this much. But how he could know about it before you? I was quite certain that before few days ago there were only one person in the entire universe who knew.” He was thinking of Whis.

“Perhaps. But people like Frieza have ways to retrieve information they weren't supposed to be able to hear. I learned of this ordeal at the exact same time as Frieza did, when he wished to know it from a magical dragon.” Same calm tone.

Sokka was slightly confused. “The what now? A magical dragon? And there was me thinking that you were better at lying. Maybe try to put some effort into it this time?” Irritation crept into his voice.

“Believe me, if I was making it up, it would be way more sophisticated than what I saw. Frieza called some men on a faraway world through a long-range communication device, told them to gather some weird artifacts and used them to summon a giant dragon that talked with a human voice. It promised to grant any three wishes, supposedly to whoever woke it up. Frieza's first wish was to know what a person named Whis discussed with my brother when they first met. And the dragon obliged, revealing the exact secret we would not want him to know.”

“How did he know about Whis? And how did Frieza know that Whis was here, discussing things with us?” Sokka’s anxiety was growing.

“I am not sure where he knew Whis from. Perhaps he had some common past with him. He did tell me that Whis is a servant and a mentor of a being called the God of Destruction. As of how he knew he was on our world, it was because I told him that he was, as a part of my cover story.”

“You did what?!” Sokka managed to tense up and raise his voice.

“Exactly what I said. Frieza was curious about us encountering aliens and wanted to know who they were. And I described those I heard of to him. And before you ask why: I didn't know who they were, why they were important or what business did you have with them. Besides, Frieza already knew we were visited by aliens, he just wanted to make sure which ones.”

“This possibly could not get any worse...” Sokka was getting tired of this. He was sure that Azula was lying to him about something (or most things, really), but he suspected that at the very least she was honest about not wanting to reveal the secret. “And let me guess, Frieza's second wish to the funky dragon was to be able to unseal any of us?”

“Precisely. And before you ask, the third wish was something stupid, something about the shape of his body. Once he was done with the wishes, he proceeded to unseal my power and forge an alliance with me. With my help, he wants to gather more of our people, probably as recruits for his army.”

“At least there is that, he won’t destroy us immediately, until he gets enough of us for his needs.” Sokka tried to find some optimism here.

“I doubt that he will be able to, at least not without his enemies knowing about it. I made sure of it.” Azula sounded somewhat satisfied.

“Wait, so the reason that you brought me here of all people...”

“Was to alert your friends, and by proxy, your new alien allies, including the divine mentor Whis. I figured that if Frieza's people can dig out information from the past, fly through space and detect where people are with weird gizmos, your aliens should be capable of similar feats.”

“Yes, actually they are...” Sokka was a bit absent-minded when he said that.

“Exactly. So stop being nervous and just wait. Hopefully the problem of Frieza will solve itself soon enough.”

Sokka got lost in thought for a moment. This actually made sense. And the trap would spring the moment Katara would be back on their world, as she intended to visit the South Pole with him. She would most likely ask Whis for help after not being able to find him, and if Whis was alert of Frieza's plan, the latter would think twice before getting close to the Earth again.

Well, that at least confirmed that Azula was not insane enough to willingly let go of such an important secret, at least on purpose. Neither she wanted Frieza to have his way with kidnapping their people and threatening their world. Still, her meddling in their affairs was troublesome, as was the fact that she obviously took an advantage of the situation and got unsealed herself.

“And by the way, you heard about Whis’s visit from the whispering trees?” He decided to try one final point.

“From the whispering peasants in the city. Which I visited every now and again, so that I wouldn’t have to live on berries. The commoners heard about it from the whispering lords. And the lords saw the aliens themselves. Noblemen were interested in the Fire Lord’s affairs with the new visitors, but they were scared away by a very angry blue haired girl.” She did not even slightly flinch here.

“Yeah, I saw that part, I’ve even talked to these lords myself.” Sokka murmured. After a pause, he decided to summarise: “Well, it's not as bad as it could have been, but still, the secret is pretty much busted at this point.”

“Maybe not as much as you think. I will not reveal it willingly to anyone, and I doubt Frieza will as well.”

Sokka thought for a moment. Given the similarities between them, the answer suddenly clicked in his head:

“Because it's a huge advantage that you would rather keep to yourself and exploit it without any competition. And Frieza thinks in the same way because he also is a power-hungry monster.”

“Now, now, why power-hungry all of a sudden? I let Zuzu go with his dirty secret that could oust him from throne after all.” Some amusement could be heard here. “Let's just see how things will play out. If I were you, I would be more worried about our training tomorrow.” She smiled viciously here.

“Oh dear...” The idea was enough for Sokka to lose all of his spirit still left.

“Oh, don’t be THAT grim. Despite my sincerest wishes to mop the floor with you again, I will need you in a perfect working condition... for the most part. I am looking forward to try out my new bending powers and you will tell me how to use them.” Azula was still smiling, but less menacingly this time.

“Ummm, until recently I was a non-bender, remember?”

“Yes, but you travelled with the Avatar as he was training. You must have remembered something useful. Mind you, that you will also benefit from recalling these arts. You do want to learn how to bend after all, don’t you?”

“I guess I do...” Sokka moaned. An obvious trap, but it was nonetheless true.

“There you go. Let it be my loss: If you will give me some hints on how to use water, earth and air, I might just teach you some firebending in return, even though you are a dirty water peasant. You should rejoice at the opportunity to be instructed by someone as renowned as myself. I expect that you will be ready by the morning or whenever this ship finally lands at its destination, whichever comes last. And for now, good night.”

With these words she turned away from him and laid down on her bed.

Sokka just moaned loudly and turned to face in the other direction.

He expected to have at least some lingering anxiety about all this that would keep him awake for a moment. And he indeed felt something. It lasted for whole five seconds, before he swam away into a dreamless sleep.

 

* * *

 

Frieza was sitting on his throne in the imperial chamber. He was pondering on the details of everything that has recently transpired.

His two most loyal attendants, Kikono and Berryblue, were taking care of two command stations by the window, in front of the throne. The former, a little yellow creature with no nose and two small antennae, seemed to be focused almost entirely on his work. Frieza was not sure what that was exactly, and he did not really care, as usual. Not because of lack of attention for details related to ruling, but more so because of his little follower's impressive track record. He was usually in charge of some logistical management and whatever he touched, it worked like a clockwork.

Berryblue, a small blue human-like lady, looked more absent-minded, theoretically doing her duties as well but at much slower pace and intertwined with long sessions of thinking over something. Frieza also trusted that she was doing her best. And he was not surprised to see her lost in thought: she was his adviser, specialising in strategy, but also helpful in many other fields. She used to be his caretaker since he was little: This gave Frieza some inclination to listen to her opinions.

Frieza observed their behaviour out of boredom. He had nothing to do until they have arrived on Planet Frieza 79. He chose it for the training of his two new recruits because of its relatively large wastelands, as well as the recently rebuilt sturdy start port. There was some hope that it would survive their fighting if they kept some safe distance to it, as it was highly resistant to earthquakes and tremors. Kikono claimed that it was capable of lifting up on a set of anti-gravity engines and functioning as an orbital station. If that was true, then Frieza's choice was even more justified than he thought.

He noticed that Berryblue was making shorter and shorter pauses for her thinking. This was an indicator that she was about to arrive at a conclusion, followed by either a small lecture or a question. And as expected, she indeed turned towards him after a while and spoke:

“Your highness, I have a certain issue with this princess that you have recently took under your wing.”

Frieza chuckled a little.

“Oh, I can assure you that there is no issue whatsoever here. This situation is entirely under control.”

“Are you certain my lord? I do have a feeling that this young lady is looking forward to undermine you in some way. I hope that you feel the same way?” She asked.

“Of course. I am quite certain that her story was untrue... just as mine story towards her was. Ha! And I sincerely doubt that her new 'friend' is her friend at all. Or that he is an unimportant nobody. I think that our enemies shall pay us a visit sooner or later to retrieve both of them, once they notice his disappearance.”

“But Your Highness!” Kikono suddenly spoke. As usual, whenever Frieza talked with anyone, he listened in, ready to chime in with some advice or question of his. He was usually subservient to the point of boredom when he did that, but he often had some good ideas. “Is it not too much of a risk to house these people on your world, in your close vicinity? After all, angering the God of Destruction is a great risk! Wouldn't it be better if we merely left them on their planet and pretended that we had nothing to do with it?”

“Yes, indeed.” Frieza responded. “It would be a safe course of action. And then we could perhaps kidnap a few of these people and release their power far away from Beerus and those meddling kids. But on the other hand...”

Kikono looked at him, a bit frightened. Frieza found it almost laughable that the little alien did not get used to having his ideas questioned, always seemingly expecting his doom whenever something he said got rejected. Frieza was considering reassuring him of his right to speak out freely, but his little freak-outs were just too pleasant to look at.

“...I already know that it is a risk. Our very presence there while Whis or those kids have their eyes set upon this world is a risk. And yet, I do believe that we might benefit from some… involvement in this world's affairs.”

“But won't the gods or your Sayian enemies intervene, or even threaten you? I do apologise for my impertinence, but we cannot face them in an open battle!”

“They won't do anything. Whis and his master could not care less about either this world or us, and the Saiyans will cease to care once we concede defeat.” Berryblue spoke to Kikono. “And in the meanwhile, a certain high-born girl will be acquainted with a powerful and yet oh-so-easily-deceived emperor. Who knows, maybe she will propose an alliance against her enemies one day...”

“Willing to exchange and train a few dozen soldiers from her world for example. Perhaps even a whole company. Each with the hidden potential matching a Super Saiyan. A few hundred instead of just a few.”

He paused here. He was now quite certain what he was going to do.

“My enemies will think that they have played me. And so be it. Let these kids be rescued by a daring party. Let the Saiyans be alert of my presence. With a little stroke of luck, nothing else will happen. And then I shall wait until they are not careful anymore.”

Frieza smiled to himself at this notion. A world of opportunity awaited him, after all.


	5. Hollow glimmer

Aang was lying on the grass, staring into the pink sky, and looking for every hint of brown clouds that surrounded the planet. They sometimes peeked through, depending on the lighting.

The rest of the team was performing similarly time-wasting activities, as they all waited for Whis to come over and take them for another trip back to their world. Katara and Toph joined Aang, lying down and staring at the sky, while Bulla and Pan were munching on some food.

“I didn't realise that those fire flakes were so good!” Pan exclaimed, her voice half muzzled as her mouth was full. “Where did Whis get so many of them?”

“He made them himself, dumbass.” A similarly muzzled voice of Bulla could be heard. “He has acquired the recipe from Mr Iroh. He was preparing them when we were running laps on the edge of the world.”

Having said that, she reached for some more flakes. At the exact same time as Pan did, their hands colliding.

Their eyes met, a spark of hostility visible in them.

“Stop stuffing yourself this much you moron, let me have a turn!” Pan managed to swallow her portion.

“Excuse you, I just so happened to notice that you absorbed over three quarters of these!” Bulla followed suit.

Toph moaned loudly. Aang sort of wanted to join her. He enjoyed staring at the sky in peace, and these two were irritating.

“You must be joking! It's you who ate almost everything. Move away!” Pan continued. Much to Aang's surprise, Katara paid them almost no attention, still gazing into the heavens absent-mindedly.

Top was not this patient though. When Pan was talking, she lifted her hand. Before Bulla could respond, the earthbender punched the ground with a great force, launching the blue haired Saiyan very high up with a giant rock pillar. Aang was pretty sure that Bulla have flown somewhere next to one of the nearby planets before reacting and lowering herself down. The pillar seemed to be at least a few miles long, and it grew almost instantaneously. Toph's aura appeared for a moment as she struck the ground.

Pan giggled loudly, while Katara had a short look at the rock. After a few seconds, Bulla landed near them, and spoke to Toph:

“Alright, alright, I get the idea. Could you voice your discontent first before attacking next time?” There was no anger in her voice.

“That rarely ever works. And I wanted to watch the sky in peace.” Toph responded. She was completely calm as well. She gestured at the rock pillar and it slid back into the ground.

“If you say so. What’s so fascinating about the sky anyway?”

“Everything is fascinating to look at, if you used to be blind.”

“Ah yes, I remember. Well, I won't be interrupting any further. Pan, you can have those flakes.” With those words, Bulla moved away a bit. Her friend looked at her, her eyes a bit widened. “I can get more at their world anyway.” The blue haired Sayian added.

“And for a moment I almost believed that you are being nice to me.” Pan responded, smiling mischievously.

“I suppose you need to curb down your expectations. I wouldn’t be sharing a dish I cannot easily retrieve later.”

Aang ceased to pay attention to their little spat. He instead focused on Katara. Her lack of attention to this whole scene was an anomaly that he preferred to investigate.

“Are you alright, Katara?”

She took a few seconds to look back at him, smiled slightly and said:

“Yes, sweetie, I'm alright.”

“You don't look alright. Why did you not comment on Bulla being a prick again or on me putting her in mortal danger?” Toph now turned to her.

“Her being a prick is a norm and she was not in danger.” Katara responded.

“You flatter me. But how did you know what I was not?” Bulla spoke.

“Toph got slapped against one of those planets and came back unscathed using it as a mount. You weren't even halfway there, from what I sensed.” Katara responded. She then chuckled lightly, and then added: “Funny, isn't it? What people can get used to...”

“Aww, I see that my previous efforts were not in vain.” Bulla said.

“They were not...” Katara murmured. After a few seconds, she spoke again: “I was wondering about something. When we first heard that Beerus can destroy a world, we got really scared. It felt so unfathomable to us. But then we saw you do that, and then we heard that we can supposedly do that too.”

“Not supposedly.” Pan interrupted. “You can definitely break planets apart. What Toph did yesterday with that rock was way harder than destroying it.”

“So, if all of us can destroy worlds, aren't we similar in strength to Beerus? I get that he must be much wiser than us with all those years he must have lived, but why would he allow the three of us to challenge him all at once? And with two years of preparation time?”

Pan and Bulla chuckled. Then the latter spoke:

“Because you are not even close to being as powerful as he. Apologies, my dear, but Beerus is in a league of his own. You wouldn't be able to even noticeably tickle him.”

This got Aang's attention.

“Then how strong is he? I knew he was ahead of us, because we need to learn that divine Chi thing to fight him, but how far away are we from him?”

“What all of us can do at once is not enough to even bruise him. We can break worlds apart. He can destroy the entire universe.”

This froze everybody in Aang's group. Even Toph lifted her head up to look at Bulla.

“You must be joking. The universe? As if, with all those worlds, stars, galaxies?” She spoke.

“All of it. If Beerus used all of his Chi in a single divine spell of destruction, everything in this universe would be gone.” Pan said.

Aang and the team were left with their mouths wide open.

“Why would a single being hold this much power? What for?” Katara spoke, sitting up and staring at the ground.

“He is the God of Destruction. A caretaker of the balance in the entire universe. He is therefore capable of wiping it out in case it was broken out of balance completely.”

Another few seconds.

“And we are supposed to fight that?” Aang asked with a weak voice. He did not expect to face against a literal embodiment of an apocalypse.

“Easy there, it's not that bad. Learning how to use divine Chi will help massively.” Pan spoke. “When my grandpa first did that, he was able to go blow for blow with him. More or less.”

“Beerus was holding back.” Bulla told her.

“Yes, but gramps could still hurt him a bit. And knock him out of the rhythm. And he had worse start than any of you before he obtained divine powers.”

“You mean, he was weaker than us?” Aang asked.

“He had more Chi and physical strength, but he did not have any innate divine energy. He had to learn how to summon it from literally nothing.”

“Two years is not a bad time for training either. My daddy and her grandpa took only half a year from zero to a significant divine power. You can probably get stronger than they did in the same amount of time, if you master the basics of godly Chi. It is already within you after all.”

Katara appeared visibly distressed. “Will it be enough?” She asked in a weak tone.

“We shall see. There are high hopes for it though. Toph already seems to be stronger than she was yesterday. That attack was quite intense.” Bulla spoke.

“Yeah, I kind of felt that.” Toph commented. “That was the largest and heaviest pillar I ever made, including those from yesterday, but it didn't feel like much. Still...”

“There is a lot of work to be done, if we are to stand a chance against him.” Aang said. The future just got a little bit more morbid than he thought it was.

 

* * *

 

Beerus was sitting in a garden. His eyes were tormented by sunlight reflected from a small swimming pool as well as from the windows and roofs of the Capsule Corporation. Lying in this particular spot was a mistake.

“Hey, uncle Beerus, wanna play ball?” He heard a voice. It was coming from the pool and belonged to a little girl. One of the two that he used to deal with, and even babysit on some occasions. Pan, granddaughter of Goku.

“Leave him be, you can see that he is napping!” Another girl spoke. Tiny blue-haired Saiyan Princess Bulla, daughter of Vegeta. They both were splashing in the pool.

“Huh!? But I wanna play with uncle Beerus!” Pan shouted at her.

“Don’t be a dumbass! Uncle Beerus wants to sleep!” Bulla screamed back.

Beerus saw this routine a few times before. In a few seconds the two girls would probably either fly away to fight somewhere else or play together. He was used to them messing around with him, even including walking on him or pulling his ears. Much to his own surprise, he never got substantially angry with either of them.

Except today.

He felt something intense and primal surge in him. He, the God of Destruction, the literal scariest being in the universe, had his nap interrupted by two dumb squabbling kids who could not keep their mouths shut in the presence of a deity. Two little insects that never showed him any of the respect he deserved.

He had enough of it. Earth was a fun place to visit, Goku and Vegeta were fun competitors, but they had strained his patience for long enough. Not mentioning that their power has become dangerous to him.

Before Pan managed to continue their little argument, he stood up. Violent flames of his aura have darkened the area. The two girls froze in terror and started to back off.

“We’re sorry, we will…” They started to speak in unison. He did not let them finish.

“You’re annoying. Be gone.”

And then he pointed his finger at them.

Both of their bodies resonated with intense energy, looking for a moment as if their own reflection surrounded them. Familiar indescribable sound accompanied this phenomenon. Then, they started to disintegrate into tiny little specks of light, disappearing in the wind.

Both started to scream. Their high-pitched voices were painful to listen to. They became even worse once the destruction magic distorted them. Like two screaming banshees.

Soon they were gone, but this scream kept going still. Less of a voice, more of a screech.

Then he heard something else. Fast steps, someone running. The mother of one of the girls. Bulma.

Her eyes were wide open, and so was her mouth.

“What… why… why did you…” with wobbly tone. She was holding her head with her hands.

Soon after she started to scream and wail.

Beerus felt a surge of power elevating somewhere near. Soon he saw Vegeta fly by.

“What the hell is going on in here! Bulma, what…”

“Our daughter! She is… she is…” Bulma managed to exclaim.

“What…” Vegeta was confused. He then turned to Beerus. “What did you do!?” Anger was clear in his voice.

“I’m done with you.” Beerus said. He was getting angrier and angrier by the second. These screams were still resonating in his head. They were pissing him off.

“I’m done with you. Farewell.” He repeated, pointing his finger at Vegeta.

His destruction magic worked flawlessly. Even more so as the Saiyan did not have the chance to concentrate and deflect it in some way. His screams joined those of the girls.

And just like those, it was not stopping.

Bulma got silenced by this sight for a moment. Only to resume her wailing. It was annoying.

“Hakai.” He did not bother to speak to her anymore.

And yet another voice to the choir. Why on the heavens everything had to be so irritating today?

He pointed down under his feet. There was no need for him to keep this planet around.

He released his power and let the planet disintegrate. And yet, the screams were not stopping. Instead, they were intensifying. Some more familiar voices were joining in. Goku, Chi-Chi, Gohan, Piccolo… As he stared at the fading sparks of light that were left of that world, he thought he saw their faces within them.

He then looked at his hand and saw it trembling.

The screams kept on going. He could hear some words passing through.

“Why… Why… We were friends… It’s not right… Why… Why…” they kept asking. Goku, Vegeta, Bulma, Chi-Chi, Bulla, Pan…

Soon he heard some more voices. His hands were trembling more and more.

“They’re gone… They’re all gone… We didn’t do anything… It’s not right… not right… not right…” he heard now. This one voice was different than the others. It was clearer and somewhat stronger.

Beerus wanted to hear more of it. It was stirring something in him. Something familiar?

It got suffocated by all the other screams that were still rising. His head was beginning to hurt from them. He wanted to listen to that voice, but he was not able to hear the words anymore. He got angry.

“All of you, just stop…” He spoke. No response. If anything, they have gotten stronger. He closed his eyes from the pain, his hands trembling even more. After a few seconds, he had enough.

“SHUT UP!!!” He roared.

The screams stopped. The pain was gone. He opened his eyes.

He might as well have kept them closed. There was literally nothing around him, only darkness. He listened in for that voice, but it was gone too. Not even a whisper could be heard.

And he felt completely hollow. That weird anger of his was gone. So was any reason to be angry for that matter.

After all, he could not do anything anymore. They were gone.

This thought has made him shudder. He closed and opened his eyes yet again.

He was in his bedroom. The alarm bombs were floating lazily around him. He was sitting on his bed on a small floating rock in a middle of his main sleeping chamber.

Beerus sat up and stared at one of the alarms. He swam away into his thoughts again.

Sixteen years ago, imagining or daydreaming something like this would have been easy. He was the Destroyer. Whether or not something was allowed to live within this universe was entirely up to him.

And then he arrived on Goku’s Earth. Initially he did not care much about it. It was a buffet spot. He tolerated the annoyances that the mortals brought with them and enjoyed eating their food as well as sparring with Goku and Vegeta every now and again. There was no reason to be concerned about anything.

And now he could not bring himself to even think about destroying this world without inducing some intense nightmares.

He chuckled to himself slightly.

_I must be getting soft. Why would I even bother to give this forbidden experiment a chance otherwise?_

Soon after he thought that, he heard steps. Whis entered the room.

“Is everything alright, my lord? I thought that you were supposed to be sleeping.”

“Meh, I am not used to a long sleep after so many short naps. I keep waking up every couple hours. Welp, I guess I will stretch a bit and then hit the sheets again.” He did not see a reason to discuss his visions with the angel. After all, he was not sure of their meaning himself.

Whis looked at him a bit funny, probably suspecting something. Then he spoke:

“If you say so, my lord. Well, I will be going then. I believe that I am late, my students are waiting for me. I am taking them for a trip.” Apparently, he decided to not act on that suspicion.

“You’re going back to Avatar’s world?” Beerus asked. More so out of courtesy than curiosity. He did not really care. He stood up on his bed and started stretching.

“Indeed. I have an appointment with Lord Iroh regarding some delicacies he wanted to show me. And the kids will probably want to do some more sightseeing. Katara, the waterbender girl, said that she wants to visit her family home with her brother.”

“Yeah, whatever. Well, have fun.” He finished his stretching and fell back onto the bed.

There was a longer pause, before he heard: “Of course, my lord. Have a good sleep.” followed by the fading steps.

Beerus pondered for a moment. Katara. That girl that freaked out at him, as he announced his intentions of destroying her world. For some reason, recalling her brought back a swift memory of that vision from before.

He shrugged it off. He did not really care about what she thought. Nor about his own feelings on the matter. Even if their world was a second Earth, a potential haven he could enjoy, there was way more at stake here than anyone’s petty opinions. The kids had to learn to guard that place from danger. Otherwise, it was a threat to everything there was.

He then recalled that brother of her. Sokka, he thought, the one that he rejected for the training. The boy was weaker than his peers and three students were an overkill anyway. Beerus had no idea why Whis was so interested in training people all of a sudden.

Well, in the end it didn’t really matter that much. He did not have to deal with them personally as long as he remained asleep. On top of that the walls were soundproof, courtesy of Bulma. And as long as Beerus remained undisturbed, Whis was free set up an entire martial arts school, for all he cared.

He closed his eyes again. Unlike the last time, he did not try to imagine anything.

Sokka kept coming back to his mind for some reason, almost like a small anxiety. After a few seconds, Beerus shrugged him off too, replacing him with a memory of a certain boat on Earth, and an ice cream from one of the food stands from said boat.

Soon, it became his reality, as he ventured away into the dreams.

 

* * *

 

“There you go. This is the place where you can train your bending abilities to your heart’s content.” Frieza spoke.

“Thank you, Lord Frieza, we shall put it to good use.” Azula responded.

“I expect so. Now, I have an important meeting to attend. You two have fun in the meanwhile. If you wish to finish prematurely, or require anything, use this device.”

It resembled a small orb made from similar material to that from the walls of the ships, except for a tiny metal grid on one side. The other side had a few buttons.

“Just press this button and speak to the orb. Then release to hear the response.” He said, handing it over to Sokka. “One of my men will fulfil your request. I shall check on you in about a few hours. Have a good exercise.”

With these words, he left in the direction of the base.

The barren wasteland to which they were brought was covered with tiny grass. A small lake and a river could be seen nearby, as well as a few mushroom-like rock formations.

As Frieza moved away from them, Sokka sighed in relief. Ever since his power was unlocked, he felt unnaturally anxious in his presence. Not mentioning this weird feeling of heat and light that seemed to stem from the alien. Sokka had difficulty describing what it was. Technically the place was relatively cold and dark, but whenever Frieza was around, Sokka felt as if it was suddenly hot and bright everywhere. Even though his eyes still saw the dark sky and weakly illuminated grass fields.

“So, are you ready, water peasant? Why do you keep staring in this direction? We haven’t even started and you miss the bed already?” Azula spoke to him. At least, it was the good old mocking-condescending tone.

Sokka grunted slightly, stopping himself from using some strong words, and turned towards her.

“So, is this the part where I get subjected to burning torture and fiery death, or does that come later?” He asked.

“Later, minus the death part. I need you alive for the time being. There might not be any torture either, if you give me the knowledge I desire and pay attention in return. You remember what I asked you for?”

“Yes, instructions on how to use other elements. Just a warning, I only overheard some of Katara’s and Toph’s lessons about earth and water, I was not trying to actually memorise them. My knowledge might have gaps. Also, I know almost nothing about the air, Aang was already an airbending master when we met him. You know, he did not teach himself how to use an element he already knew so that I could conveniently overhear it for you. Will this be enough to avoid tortures and death?” He tried to sound as cheerful as possible during this speech.

“We shall see. Let’s start with waterbending. We will walk over to that pond over there. And in the meanwhile, you will tell me what you know about it.”

“Yay… nothing motivates me more than a threat of impending doom.”

“If you don’t stop yapping, it will stop being impending. Less complaining, and more waterbending, pretty please.” Azula said. Her tone sounded way too friendly for that sentence and its context.

“Yeah, alright. Okay, so from what I heard, waterbending is all about fluid, graceful motions, that shift from one to the other. You know, not punching and kicking at it wildly, but, maybe, pretending to be water yourself?” Sokka tried to connect some dots in his head.

“That’s sounds a bit ridiculous.”

“Hey, you are asking a non-bender how to bend, so don’t talk to me about ridiculous. Whenever Aang and Katara would do it, they would be all flowy and gooey, or something.” He performed a hand-waving motion from a T-pose. “They did that and then the water moved all around them.”

“Have you seen any specific movements? Perhaps remember any exercises?”

“Ummm, before we met Aang, Katara was always trying to ‘flow’ the water into a ball, that usually splashed on my head. The first thing they did together was just pushing and pulling the water, moving, hmmm, oh, like this.” He rubbed his chin in the moment of hesitation. Then he performed the movement, waving his hands upwards towards himself and then downwards away. “Then they tried something called ‘streaming the water’, which went like this.” He then started to fluidly rotate, while pointing his hands at an imaginary water whip.

“We can try those once we get there. Do you remember anything about a waterbender’s mindset?” Her tone shifted from condescension to actual curiosity.

“Yeah, it’s supposed to be about the flow. Flow of energy, or Chi, or whatever. Plus, redirection. Waterbender is supposed to redirect their opponents’ attacks against them.”

“Would only make sense if it was two waterbenders fighting.” Azula commented.

“I think it’s a concept in combat in general. You should know this, you can fight hand to hand.”

“Yes, it is, you can use your opponent’s momentum against them. Still, I wonder if a waterbender can redirect a firebender’s attack. Or airbender’s, for that matter. Well, we can figure it out later.”

They have arrived at the lake. It looked bigger from up close than it did from where Frieza left them. Sokka looked behind him and noticed that the terrain was slightly higher there.

“Let’s get started. Repeat that first move you showed me.” Azula said.

“At once! Private not-so-much-of-a-waterbender stands at your command.” He responded.

He then walked over to the water.

He recalled that feeling from when he tried firebending. This weird mixture of heat and tickling, or was it pressure? He did not even understand how those feelings could get mixed up. For now, only the water mattered.

He started to wave his hands, as if he wanted to first pull the water up like a large piece of cloth and then push it away.

Much to his surprise, the water actually followed suit. It moved exactly like when Aang did it, maybe even more energetically. He was not sure though, as he was quite certain that he was not watching them back then.

“Look, it actually works! Ha! I had no idea what would even happen if I tried it.”

Azula looked at his little movement for a bit, and then spoke:

“It certainly looks more promising than your firebending.”

She then turned towards the water and copied Sokka’s motion.

He secretly hoped that the water would just stay still. Unfortunately, it seemed to listen to Azula. One consolation in all this was that her waterbending seemed to be a bit weaker. At least he hoped it was.

“And now I’m doing it too. That’s weird. I barely even concentrate, and I almost do not put any effort in.”

Now that she said that, Sokka felt similarly. The water did what he wanted as long as he focused his attention on it while invoking that ‘bending feeling’. It was very intuitive.

“Let’s try something fancier. What was that second move?” Azula continued.

“I am not really sure what they did exactly at this point, but I think it went like…”

As he was speaking, he pointed at the water, and then moved his hand upwards, thinking of a small water stream leaving the main pool and flying up in the air. And so it did. But that was not what shut him up and made him stare at it in disbelief. What did surprise him was that it had the exact shape that he envisioned. He pulled out a small orb of it, and then started to move it around.

The water flowed flawlessly as his hands dictated. If he added some mental image to his motions, it seemed to listen as if it was reading his mind. If he did not, then it just took each and any of the forms that he saw Katara and Aang perform.

Azula looked at it for a few seconds, and then followed suit. Water listened to her as well, flying around her body. Sokka was trying to observe whether or not her control was just as perfect as his, but he was not able to tell.

“Well, that’s way easier than I expected. It seems that water is eager to listen to me.” Azula spoke. “Now, what advanced moves do you know?”

“I’m not sure. I mean, much of what Aang and Katara ever did seemed to just be a variation of this. The next thing they tried was to make…” He paused here for a moment. If there ever was any way to check if his waterbending was stronger than hers, it was to try to bend as much of as possible in a single go.

“What? To make what? Could you finish your sentence already?” Azula’s voice had a hint of impatience.

“A giant wave. Let’s make this whole lake fly.” Sokka exclaimed. He was now feeling somewhat enthusiastic about the ordeal.

Azula looked somewhat interested.

“Very well. You first.”

 Sokka concentrated a bit more, and then pointed both of his hands at the lake. He sincerely hoped that he will not embarrass himself here.

He then started to lift the arms up, hoping that the water will follow.

The effect exceeded his expectations. The entire water from the lake was now floating up, forming a huge ball.

“Not exactly a wave, but still impressive.” Azula said.

“Just wait until I drop this thing. Welcome to the splash land!”

With these words, he dropped both of his arms.

The orb stayed afloat though.

“Wait, what in the…”

Sokka looked at it in disbelief for a moment, and then he looked at Azula. She was lifting her hands up now, apparently controlling the orb.

“Oh, of course. I should have guessed.” He did not care much about getting tricked, as much as about the fact that she was keeping up with him.

“It seems that I am getting the hang of it.” She said. She then looked at him mischievously. “So, remind me, what your sister used to do with the water she tried to bend?” She waved her hands in Sokka’s direction. The orb started to move towards him.

“Oh no, don’t you dare.” He said a bit angrily, lifting his own hands up.

The water orb stopped in place. They both started to grunt in effort. Azula suddenly got surrounded by white flames. Her aura, as Sokka recalled from the conversations with the alien girls. Soon after his own aura appeared, strengthening this weird feeling of heat and pressure.

Orb seemed to tremble, as they both tried to force their control over it. It was sometimes flowing closer to Azula, and sometimes to Sokka. After a few seconds of impasse, he had an idea.

He loosened his grip over the orb for a moment. It launched towards him; a spark of triumph could be seen in Azula’s eyes.

Sokka tried to recall anything about how ice was formed from water. Naturally, the main factor was cold, but he was not really sure if he could freeze something with his Chi. So far it worked as he demanded, but this was a bit more complicated concept than the movement.

However, ice could be formed in different conditions as well. He knew quite well for example that glacial ice was created thanks to the huge pressure of all the normal ice and snow that lied on top of it. It took many years for it to harden this way (one of the village elders said that the deep blue ice took thousands of years to form), but once it did, it was very hard, and took way longer to melt than any normal ice.

If Sokka managed to quickly pressurize the water, perhaps he could end up with a block of extremely hard ice. Maybe even a completely new kind.

He allowed the orb to be pushed a significant distance towards him. And then he started to resist again. Instead of trying to control the whole orb though, he merely pushed it back.

The water was instantly squeezed into a very narrow shape, looking almost like a vertical puddle. Sokka concentrated way more and tried to pressurize it even further, caring little about actually controlling it at this point.

Soon, he ended up with a water blob roughly the size of a human. He also noticed that Azula’s control over it waned as it was getting closer to him. He decided to deal the final blow by pressing it together even further into a spear like shape, and then physically grabbing it. Once he did that, she dropped her hands and wobbled, appearing a bit staggered.

“Ha! Looks like I’m the master waterbender around here!” He exclaimed.

“Congratulations, feel free to cool yourself down, or whatever else you intend to do with that thing.” She spoke, taking a look at his little prize. Indeed, the water has become ice, as he desired. It was strangely warm in touch, but it was not melting. “Perhaps we should proceed with fire now, see how it works out for you.” She continued. Her voice was calm and almost friendly, but her eyes had a murderous spark.

“Ummm, didn’t you want to try the earth and air first?” Sokka asked, his voice breaking a bit.

“We will go over these some other time. As for now: despite what I expected, I made a substantial progress with waterbending. I am quite sure that it was more thanks to my own talent than your teaching ability, but I will give you some credit for trying. Therefore, I will now explain to you how to use fire. And then we will spar with it.” She flashed him a wide smile, that was anything but cheerful.

Sokka was doing his best not to tremble. “Yes, sure, let’s learn how to firebend. Yay…” He commented. He was proud of managing to keep a purely sarcastic tone.

“Very well. Now, recall what you did during our previous training session, and try to create fire.”

“I’m not sure what I was doing back then. I reflected those flames you made and felt something weird in my hands.” He decided to explain. “I thought that it was the feeling of firebending, but then I felt the same thing during waterbending, so…”

“You felt your Chi moving. Firebending can be primitively described as ejecting your own Chi out of your body in the form of flames.” She made a short punch that summoned a small fire spout. “Normal firebenders would need the presence of the sun to do so, as humans are innately too weak to form fire without some extra juice, but it’s not a problem for us anymore. Still, you will experience better results when near some source of light and heat.”

“So…” Sokka was not sure how was that supposed to help him.

“So instead of just feeling your Chi moving, you want to force it to move out. Firebending is about passion and drive. Drive that will resonate with your energy and bend it to your will, so it can destroy your enemies. Instead of just feeling tingles in your hands, strike with them and throw all of your hatred at your enemies. I guarantee that the flames will follow.” Azula sounded quite invested in what she was talking about.

“That sounds optimistic…” Sokka commented. He thought that Aang and Zuko discovered a bit different concept when Zuko lost his rage, but he was not sure if they ever spoke of it in his hearing range.

“It’s not supposed to be optimistic. Fire is the element of destruction, and therefore you must wish to destroy things for it to manifest for you. Now, give it a go. Think of something that you want to kill and kill it.”

“Okay, it’s just… Zuko learned how to firebend differently, without all of that hatred and rage thing, and he defeated you. Are you sure that’s the only method available?”

And then he wished he hasn’t said that. Azula started at him for a good few seconds with that evil spark in her eyes.

“For the record, he did not defeat me. It was your precious sister. I remember zapping him with lightning square in the chest. For all intents and purposes, he lost that fight.” She spoke. Her tone reflected her gaze.

“Okay, okay, he did not defeat you. You are a better firebender, oh so silly of me to assume otherwise.” Sokka spoke, trying to sound cheerful.

“Whatever.” Her tone softened a bit, and she stopped staring at him. “And as for your question: I was not taught any other way to firebend. If that answer does not satisfy you, I don’t care. We will still fight now, and I will still use fire against you. It’s in your best interest to at least try to counter me with fire.” She then gave another short look at his ice rod “Otherwise, you will probably run out of that ice very quickly.” She added with a devilish smile. “And there is not much water left nearby.” She taxed the fields around them.

“Okay, okay… let’s just get this over with.” He responded, taking some stance. Not really a specific one, just a position from which he could perform a punch.

He then thought about things he hated.

“It’s hard for me to find something I would hate with BURNING passion.” He said, chuckling lightly.

“And that’s why you are so weak. Perhaps put some more effort into it. And for your sake, I hope it works out better than your jokes.”

“Ha, ha.” He murmured.

He was still thinking about Aang and Zuko. They both bent fire without any hate. But what feelings they were using to fuel it instead? He remembered a bunch of forms they practiced. Zuko often talked to Aang to put some fury and aggression into these forms. Did he just mean pure anger then, as if being mad at something, or was it perhaps a form of combat concentration? Maybe both. Still, it was quite different from what Azula was suggesting. Less destruction, more emotion. If that was the case and he guessed it right, he could perhaps try firebending without becoming a murderous little monster.

“Okay, I think I got something.” He said out loud.

“Good, I think I was starting to grow old. Now, how about you finally attempt to firebend?”

Sokka just nodded. He then tried to think of something that would make him simply angry, but without any deeper hatred behind it. It only took him a split second to realise that he was staring at a perfect target this whole time.

Azula, with her endless smirking and condescending manners and treating him like garbage in general. Not mentioning everything she has put him and his friends through, both in the past and right now. Sokka had a sudden vision of punching her right in her smug prick face.

It felt good. Way too good, he would say in less dire circumstances, but he was under quite significant pressure these past few days. He decided to go through with this vision. He summoned that feeling again and saw his aura appear around him.

And he threw a punch right at Azula’s face.

A torrent of fire ejected from his hand. Azula smiled wildly and jumped out of its way. It flew for a few hundred meters before hitting the side of a hill and exploding, leaving a small crater behind.

“Not bad, not bad. I was wondering when you will finally figure that out.” Azula commented. Her tone was a bit mocking, but also satisfied in some way. “At least you graduated from that little whiff you did before.”

Now that she said that, Sokka noticed that his flame wasn’t that large. He felt like he was giving it his all, and yet it was similar to the fires thrown around during Sozin’s Comet. The attack Azula unleashed at him during their exercise on the ship felt way stronger.

“Now, I have no choice but to thank you for being such an attentive student.” She said, smirking. Her aura exploded around her, and she threw her own punch.

Yup, she was definitely better at this than he was. The flames she unleashed were right on top of him before he managed to even move. He reflectively protected himself with one thing that he held in his hands, the ice rod, and closed his eyes.

 _Would be good to have a shield right now…_ his mind managed to spew out as the flames were hitting him. He summoned an image of a wide tower shield he once saw in a weapon’s shop.

He then got a bit surprised. He heard the flames roaring and was quite certain that they smashed into him at this point, but he did not feel anything. Was he already dead perhaps? Nah, Azula said she wanted him alive. Maybe he lost his feeling on all his skin? Maybe he didn’t have skin anymore?

He then opened his eyes. And gasped.

Flames were being split in front of him by a shield he was now holding. After a second he realised that it was made of that ice. He didn’t even feel the change, as it kept the same shape around his hands.

Soon the fire stopped coming. Azula stared at the shield curiously.

“Ha! Glacier ice does not melt so easily, dirty fire-tosser!” He shouted.

 She did not respond immediately. She was standing in the same spot she started the attack from, still smiling maliciously.

“Let’s turn up the heat then, shall we?”

She jumped a bit and then ejected a lot of flames from her feet and hands (pointing behind her), propelling herself forwards. Right next to him, she punched twice, creating two massive explosions, and then flew higher up.

Sokka jumped away from these explosions, keeping the shield in front of him. As he flew through the air, he changed the handle of the shield to a more comfortable one, also redirecting more ice into the defensive surface. Then, he pointed his hand at Azula and produced another fire blast.

Azula dodged it effortlessly, and flew over him, showering him with more flames. He jumped away in the opposite direction to which she was flying, quickly getting out of her range. She responded to that by firing another blast at him, and then turning back towards him.

Such an exchange repeated a few times. Sokka noticed that no matter how hard he tried, his fire projectiles were laughably slow. He did not even need to compare their theoretical intensity, he was certain that it was worse as well.

He needed a different way of attacking. He could try to take to the air and attack her directly by using a fire jet like she did, but she would be most definitely faster than him.

Instead, he looked at the nearby river. It was still there, and some of its water was already filling the lake back. After Azula did her fourth bombing run over his head, he jumped towards the river. He managed to reach it in a single huge leap before Azula turned back to him again. He thrust his hand into the water and forced all of it that he could see to come and gather near his hand.

With another rod of ice, he jumped away from an incoming fire blast. Mid-air, he formed a sword out of the ice.

When he landed, he was welcomed by a huge wave of fire coming at him.

“I’m slowly getting tired of you bolting away! How about you fight back for a change?” Azula screamed from behind the flames.

This attack was way denser and fiercer than the last one he had to deflect with his shield. He sensed that the ice started to melt. He did not even know how he felt that. He forcefully bent the water back into the shield, keeping it together, but some of it managed to get blasted away.

He tried to start walking towards Azula with his shield in front, but it was incredibly difficult to move with this wave of death pinning him down. He tried to move to the side, but Azula kept tracking his movements. Still, he managed to progress towards her a bit.

He then looked at the sword in his hand. And quickly got two ideas as of what to do.

He could either bend it into a boomerang and throw it at her or form a very long spear and try to reach her from where he was standing. He tried to take a peek over the shield to see how far she was from him exactly, but the flames were blinding him. This made him try the second approach. Although he could not see the distance, he could deduct the direction from the pressure of the flame wave.

He first tried to point the sword at her from the side, but it was getting tossed away by the force. He realised however that he could bend the sword through the shield, turning both into a single object for a moment.

And so he did. Sword melted together with the shield and came out on the other side. Sokka needed to keep it together just as he did with the shield to avoid it thawing away, but it was way easier to thrust it forward at this angle. He concentrated, and then elongated the sword as much as he could.

The flames stopped. He felt a hit at the tip of the sword, and quickly contracted it back, also pulling it out of the shield. The tip was chipped off, and the chip was now lying in Azula’s hand.

“Not bad, not bad, water peasant. Still…” She created a small orb of fire surrounding the piece of ice, melting it away. “You will run out of your ice sooner or later.”

“And you will run out of breath sooner or later.” Sokka said.

“Wouldn’t count on it.” She spoke, before launching herself forward again.

 

* * *

 

Frieza watched how his two new students battled each other. It was quite a marvellous show. He pondered whether or not a jet of fire could stop a Chi blast, should these two be pitted against a skilled Chi user.

He was sort of looking forward to teach these two said art, especially given their already significant natural ability. But he was not sure how long they would even stick around. He decided to wait until the next day with teaching them anything. If nobody organised a rescue operation by that point, there was some chance that they would stay for longer.

Besides, he enjoyed watching them fight. And it also allowed him to somewhat gauge what they are capable of. As they did not have to hold back with their bending abilities on the surface of a planet, they were more likely to showcase the full extent of their Chi.

His considerations were interrupted by a voice from the intercom.

“Lord Frieza, Berrada ab Selam from the planet Litt has arrived for the scheduled audience!”

The name of that planet sounded familiar, but Frieza could not recall where he remembered it from.

“Very well. Send him in.” He responded.

The soldier speaking walked in and bowed shortly. First to Frieza, and then to the creature that followed.

Its sight finally stirred Frieza’s memory. People like him, a mixture of a bird and a lizard of a short posture and dark green skin, lived on one of the planets of his empire. Reliable soldiers, not very strong, but good with weapons. Unfortunately, their world was reported to be destroyed shortly after his defeat on Namek and before his first death. Some of the Litts remained in his army though, and many rejoined it after his final return to power.

It was not what brought him to invite this particular member of their species though. This one was a known magician, particularly verse in telepathy and all sorts of mind tricks and manipulation.

“Ten minutes before time. I commend you on your punctuality.” Frieza spoke first to him.

The magician bowed shortly before him and said:

“I thank you for this opportunity to speak with you, your majesty.” He spoke. His voice was weirdly distorted, as if he was gasping for air with each word.

“You are most welcome. Your reputation as a talented student of Babidi precedes you.” Frieza spoke.

“I am merely a seeker of truth and wisdom. Master Babidi’s teachings, albeit useful, were tainted by his desire for revenge. I personally strive to rise above that. Now, what do you wish to discuss with your lowly servant, my lord?”

Frieza looked at him for a moment. His facial expression, as far as he could read from this lizard-bird face, suggested reverence and subservience. The emperor was certain though that this was merely a façade. Something to remember, and break through, he thought.

“There is more for you to do than just talking. Come over here, to this window.” He spoke.

Berrada did as he was asked, gazing outside.

“What two marvellous fighters, my lord. Their Chi is quite potent.” He spoke.

“Indeed. However, I am afraid that they will not stay with me for long. I think that my enemies have learned that I have recruited them, and they will seek to steal them from me, just as they have done many times before.”

“Do you perhaps wish for some way to hide them then?”

“No, there is no chance it will work out, even with your abilities. It’s more than likely that the God of Destruction himself will be involved in this affair. However, there is something else that we can do.”

“And what is it, my lord?”

Frieza hesitated a little. The secret that he was privy to was no small matter, and sharing it with anyone, especially such a shady individual, was not a wise move. He had no real choice however. He was already forced to tell it to Berryblue and Kikono, just in case he was made to forget it by the Dragon Balls. There was also a chance that all of the Frieza Force would be treated with such wish. This magician however was an outsider, not a member of his army, and not even a citizen of his empire, as he had lived in a secluded location far away from any of his planets. It was a potential gateway to avoid the logic of the Dragon Balls, and his abilities could also be helpful in the matter. Despite his usefulness, he could not trust him just like that. He had to at least try and ensure that the little lizard will not try anything funny.

“What I am about to tell you know is one of the darkest secrets of this universe. Absolutely no word is allowed to leave this chamber without my express consent from this point on. If I hear as much as a whiff of this knowledge where it is not supposed to be, there will be SEVERE consequences. However, if you remain faithful and perform your task well, you can expect a handsome reward.”

“You know what I desire the most, my lord.” Berrada said, a spark of malice creeping in his eyes.

“Indeed. And I will toss in something extra, any form of material payment of your choosing.”

“Very well. I will forget anything that has been said immediately after I leave this chamber. And I will choose my reward after I earn it in your eyes.” Berrada spoke.

“Very well. Listen closely then. I have recently discovered that there are fighters in this universe that have been afflicted by a curse that seals away their power. These two fighting over there are two such people. I have been granted the ability to remove this seal. Do you have any awareness of artifacts called the wishing orbs?”

“Yes, I do. The Namekians are in possession of a set of such orbs and so are the gods.”

“Yes, indeed. It was these orbs that gave me that power and this knowledge. However, these orbs can also be used to take it away from me. And here is where you come in. I want you to remember this secret, so that you can reveal it back to me should I be forced to forget it. I want you to learn that ability as well, for the same reason. And finally, I also want you to record everything that we have talked about with magic and leave the recording with me. Does this lie within the range of your abilities?”

“Naturally, Lord Frieza. Even more so: I can also cast a protective spell over both of us that will prevent our memories from being tampered with. It should trick the dragon performing the wish that it has completed its task, as long as it is not the Divine Dragon.”

“Very well.” Frieza responded. _Note to self: hire another magician to make sure that this spell has no malicious effects,_ he thought. He then added: “Let us begin then. What will you require me to do, so that you can copy the mentioned ability?”

“Just a few demonstrations will suffice, my lord.” Berrada responded.

 

* * *

 

“Finally, I have a chance to ask that again: what do you like to do for fun in your world?”

Pan was looking at Katara, smiling. They were walking in the direction of the shipyard where the space vessel was located. They used a normal human tempo.  

The waterbender was largely disinterested in the topic though. She tried to think of a way to politely refuse to answer, or to change the subject, but Toph interjected:

“A lot of things. These two liked to splash around, me and him liked to scam people, me and her pretended to be boys once and almost got into a bar fight.”

“Isn’t that unexpected? The always-serious Katara engaging in such a ruffian activity?” Bulla commented, smirking

“Hell yeah. She also got me thrown in a prison so we could collect a bounty on my head. And then she landed in it too.” Toph continued.

“A bounty?” Pan eyes widened.

“You know, for these scams. Or was it the one by your father?” Aang asked, smiling comfortably.

“I think this one was the scams. Father couldn’t track me in the Fire Nation.” Toph answered.

“What did you even do during those scams that got you in such trouble?” Pan asked.

“Cheating on street games, tricking guards, pretending to be the guards…” Toph tried to recall. “Wouldn’t mind trying it again, now that I have eyes. And different bendings.”

“And super strength!” Aang commented.

“Oh yeah. That will come in handy.” Toph smiled mischievously.

“I apologise, but I must know the details of it. How it was possible that Katara got into a bar fight?” Bulla interrupted.

“I don’t remember exactly. I was hungry at the time. Katara, what was it?” Toph now turned towards her.

Katara did not answer. She was busy thinking all this time. Although she heard most of this conversation, she did not care much about it.

“Katara? You there?” Aang asked her.

Katara just grunted, and then spoke:

“Guys, don’t you think that we have more important things on our heads than stupid scams? We kind of need to figure out how to defeat a universe-destroying monster, remember?”

This got Aang silent, his face becoming a bit stern. Toph also lost some spark in her eyes, albeit less than Aang.

“Now, now, I see that you already approach this with the wrong attitude.” Pan commented. “You need to be able to relax every now and then. Otherwise, your training will be less efficient.”

“Relax? Our world is about to be blown up, and we haven’t even started to meditate on the chakras. Not mentioning controlling our Chi. Beerus has spirits-know-how-many-years edge start on us and you want to waste time?” Katara was getting annoyed.

“I am serious, Katara.” Pan spoke, her smile weakening. “I know a thing or two about training. And breaks are just as important as the work itself. Otherwise you risk tiring yourself out and effectively stopping your progress. Wasting MORE time this way.”

“Listen to what she says.” Bulla commented, smiling faintly. “She is actually correct for once. It was the main mental obstacle that my father had to overcome during his training: being too serious.”

“Aww, you do like me.” Pan commented with an overly cute smile.

“Silence, my underling, you are not allowed to comment on my feelings.” Bulla responded.

Katara paused here for a moment. What they talked about made some sense. And it was true during Aang’s training too.

“I’m sorry, guys.” She said, her tone becoming a bit softer. “I just can’t stop thinking about it. I mean, why on Earth this stupid cat would expect us to beat him in two years?”

“It’s not impossible, just difficult. VERY difficult.” Bulla commented. “And yet, her gramps became almost equal to Beerus in terms of power in a matter of a few years. He is a complete fighting maniac though.”

“Yeah, that he is.” Pan commented. She sounded somewhat sour.

Katara was still quite nervous. She tried to recall what each of the chakra did, what was their respective blockades, positive or negative feelings.

Aang looked at her for a few seconds, and then smiled faintly.

“Hey, I can give you some hints while we show Pan and Bulla around. We can also do some meditation once we get to the South Pole. You wanted to visit your home with Sokka, remember?”

Katara smiled. That was true. And she also noticed that Aang almost read her mind.

“Thank you, sweetie. Yes, we will go to the South Pole once we get my brother from that shipyard. And then, if you guys won’t mind, I will do some meditation.”

“We won’t mind. We might even join you. I can show you a Chi exercise that my mother learned from my father when they first dated.” Pan smiled now. “You know more of Chi than she did when she tried, you should get through it quickly.”

“I hope so. Thank you, Pan.” Katara responded. “And don’t worry about keeping me company, it was a stressful time for all of us. You guys need some rest too.” She directed this part at Toph and Aang.

“We will try it too, I guess. Sonner or later.” Toph commented. “First, I need Sokka though, and then I need a sufficient dose of pranks. Which he is good at.”

“Speaking of Sokka, is that the shipyard?” Aang pointed at one of the semi-cylindrical buildings they just passed by.

“No, the right one has a roof door. It’s still a bit further away. Don’t worry, I already know where it is.” Toph commented.

“How did you… ah, alright, your feet sense.” Bulla said.

“Yes, it is. It’s the last of the abandoned airship shipyards. Over there.” Toph pointed at a building in a distance.

“Speaking of feet sense, can’t you detect him now?” Aang asked.

“Yeah, I guess. I haven’t tried. Give me a moment.” Toph answered, closing her eyes.

And then, her expression shifted. Suffice to say, she looked alert.

“What is it, Toph?” Aang asked. Katara got out of her thinking and looked at the earthbender as well.

 

* * *

 

Toph was barefoot ever since this morning. She saw the entire planet with her earthbending sense. She got used to it by now. She even enjoyed observing some distant places and imagining what they would look like when seen with her eyes.

As they walked towards the shipyards, she recognised the ship almost immediately, given how weird and unnatural its interiors were. She did not notice Sokka though. Initially, she blamed her lack of attention. Then, she blamed the distracting nature of the vessel itself. However, once they were near, she could make out individual people wandering the ship. The alien Pecha, Suki, a bunch of engineers as well as the Kyoshi Warriors.

Sokka was not present there though. And as she moved along, she noticed two things. Firstly, he was nowhere else nearby. She was trying to sense him in an expanding concentrating circle, as well as in specific locations she knew he could be, but to no avail. Secondly, the people on the ship were wandering around in a rush, as if they were searching for something. Which was not a good sign.

“Toph, is everything alright?” Katara’s voice suddenly got to her. She heard the people speaking to her but it only made her focus more on the search. Now it woke her up from it.

“I don’t see Sokka anywhere. He is not on the ship, nor in the palace.” She spoke.

“That would be quite useful to know before we ventured here. Why didn’t you warn us before?” Bulla asked.

“I told you, I haven’t tried to sense him. I have to focus to detect specific people.” Toph responded angrily. She continued to quickly scan any locations she suspected Sokka to be in.

“Let’s just keep walking to the shipyards, maybe Suki and the others know where he is.” Aang spoke.

And so they did. This time however they sped up the pace a little, reaching a tempo that normal humans would call a fast run. Toph kept scanning for Sokka.

Soon they reached the building. As she sensed before, people were clearly searching for something over there. She had an unpleasant feeling that she knew what it was.

As they walked, one of the Kyoshi Warriors wandering outside noticed them. She quickly moved inside and into the ship. Soon after, Suki walked out of it and headed towards them. Before any of them managed to make a sound, she spoke:

“Hello guys! Sorry for the haste, but have you seen Sokka anywhere?”

And Toph’s fears were confirmed.

“Well, we were kind of hoping that you would know.” Katara responded. “Toph can’t find him anywhere.”

“Can’t you guys sense Chi or something? We have been looking for him all over the place. He left his scouter in the dorm room, so Pecha couldn’t find him. I thought that you might know something…” Suki was clearly disheartened.

“I believe that no one present here with any significant power would be able to detect him. These lot are too inexperienced, and I do not know his Chi pattern well enough.” Bulla spoke.

“I’ve been trying.” Pan spoke. “But I don’t remember him that much either. Have sensed a few similar people, all fake alarms.”

“Welp, then we have hit a wall.” Toph said. “Maybe check for anyone that is currently mid-flight or on a boat. I would not be able to detect them.”

“Maybe he is outside of the Fire Nation though?” Suki said.

“Doesn’t matter. Toph’s seismic sense can now encompass the entire planet.” Aang commented.

Suki opened her mouth a little.

“And I can detect anyone I want in this solar system, if I remembered their Chi, but I wasn’t paying attention to his…” Pan added, staring at the ground.

“By all means, keep scanning around if you so desire, but did all of you forget that Whis’s staff is right here with him?”

“I do remember!” Suki responded. “You used it to detect those fake spirits. Right before you told me and my friends to piss off.” The last sentence was accompanied by a sour tone.

“Yes, and it is irrelevant to the issue at hand. Let us all head for the palace. I suspect that Whis will not be very hard to find.” Bulla spoke.

Then she turned on her heel and raised her hands as if she wanted someone to grab them.

“Might as well make it quick. Hold onto me and Pan.”

Pan, hearing this, moved ahead a bit and did the same pose. Suki looked at them a bit suspiciously.

“What are they doing exactly?” She asked.

“You will see. Now, come on. And grab Pan. I wouldn’t go near Bulla for that one.”

“Least difficult decision in my life…” Suki commented, grabbing Pan’s hand.

Katara and Aang were already holding onto Bulla. When Suki’s hand touched Pan’s, Bulla’s aura roared around her, and she took off, flying into the sky and pulling the two with her.

“Wait, wait, I am not sure that I am ready tooaaaaaaaah!” Her words turned into a scream as she was pulled high up alongside Toph.

The short freak-out on her face quickly turned into amazement, as she looked onto the buildings of the city below her, and the quickly approaching palace.

For Toph, who has already experienced weirder things that that, it didn’t feel like much. In fact, she was absolutely certain that she could just drop down from here without suffering any damage whatsoever.

 

* * *

 

Iroh, Pecha and Whis were all present in the dining chamber. Katara overheard them talking about alien cuisine before they arrived. However, once they received a short rundown of the situation, their overall cheerful attitudes have dissipated.

“Hmmm, this is troubling. It’s not like Sokka to just disappear without any warning or message.” Iroh commented. His face suggested deep worry.

“And on top of that, these two cannot find him, and they can both sense anything happening on the entire planet.” Suki commented, pointing at Toph and Pan.

“Can you now? This is fascinating. Such a shame that I learn of this in these dire circumstances. There are quite a few secrets around the world that you could help me uncover.”

“Mr Whis, can you perhaps sense Sokka anywhere in the world?” Katara asked.

“I believe that I cannot. I remembered your friend’s Chi, and I did probe this world for his presence, but he appears to be gone.”

“Wait, you cannot mean...” Katara felt a wave of anxiety wash over her. She suddenly recalled that unpleasant feeling from before, when she almost fell asleep. It didn’t get as bad as it was that time, but it still crept near. Thankfully, Aang did not notice anything. She did not want to worry him with her mood swings.

“I do not mean that he is dead, merely that he is not present on this planet.” Whis responded quite quickly. His usual faint smile faded, as he waved his hand in the air, causing the staff to appear. “One moment, my dear, whatever happened to him, we shall soon know.”

He then looked into the crystal. His eyebrows have risen up significantly, as he muttered: “Oh, my…”

“What, what’s going on?” Toph asked.

“Your friend appears to be located on planet Frieza 79. And the namesake emperor resides in the same exact world.”

Katara froze. Now instead of getting a short breath she felt her heart beating faster. Whilst Aang, Suki and Toph stared at the ground, appearing a bit unnerved, Pan’s eyes widened, while Bulla frowned, her fists clenching. Despite her overall aggressive attitude, she was smiling faintly. Iroh rubbed his chin and closed his eyes, while Pecha’s eyes widened.

Bulla was the first one to speak.

“Of course, he had to show up sooner or later.”

“You know him?” Aang asked faintly.

“He is an old enemy of my family and my race. Whenever I see him, my blood boils.” She paused here for a moment. She then let out a small sigh and continued: “I wish I was strong enough…”

“He is also an evil space emperor who conquered countless planets across the cosmos, usually by slaughtering all of their inhabitants.” Pan said, looking unnerved herself.

“Wasn’t he supposed to be dead?” Toph asked.

“He is very much alive. I suppose that Pecha did not know about it at all.”

“I… I… but how? Why is he alive?” The alien stuttered a bit as he spoke.

“Why didn’t you tell us before?” Aang asked.

“Also, couldn’t any of you detect him with your Chi sense? Or with those scouter toys?” Suki added.

“To be honest, nobody expected him anywhere near your world this soon. From Pecha’s story it figured that he had no records of this planet.” Whis said. “And as for sensing him, he was nowhere near this world while we were here.”

“We are too weak to detect him when he supresses his power.” Bulla added. “Clever bastard probably kept his distance until we left. I am still curious why the scouters did not pick anything up.”

The little alien now calmed down a bit, looking down at the table. His voice was still a bit shaky as he spoke:

“Scouters are only good for detecting sufficiently high-power levels over specific distances. The lower the power and higher distance, the lesser the chance for detection. If they sent a few weak soldiers to fly by, or just stayed far enough in orbit, I would not know about it. This configuration can be altered, and I did it with Sokka’s scouter to detect weaker entities, but mine was set to watch out for anything like Pegra or stronger getting into low orbit.”

“His scouter was next to his bed on the ship, but none of us had any idea to look into it.” Suki commented.

“You would not see much anyway. The only presence of Frieza’s army in this world is a satellite in high orbit. No people, weak or strong.” Whis commented.

Katara was not sure what a satellite was, and got a bit curious about it, but she had more pressing concerns.

“But why this whole Frieza kidnapped Sokka? What does he want with him?”

“Information, obviously. He wants to know if there are any major threats on your planet before he attacks it.” Bulla said.

This froze everyone again. Except Iroh, who just muttered: “Naturally…”

“We need to get him back!” Katara said. “I just…” Her voice almost broke here. “What if he…” She saw the moving image in the crystal. Initially she wanted to get closer to see, but now she was afraid.

“Do not worry: I believe that Sokka has not suffered any serious injuries.” Whis said. “However, there might be something else going on. He is right now engaged in combat with a late teen girl. Frieza is just observing the two from a high distance. And I don’t want to assume anything yet, but…”

“Wait, what?” Katara gasped.

“Come and have a look for yourself.”

Katara moved in closer to the crystal, alongside everyone else.

She wiped her eyes a few times. She could not believe what she saw. Aang’s jaw dropped.

“What, what’s wrong with… Oh.” Toph said.

“They appear to be sparring.” Pan commented. “And Frieza is just watching. Is he checking out Sokka as a potential soldier?”

“I would appear so. He is not sealed anymore.” Bulla said. “I do wonder how the hell Frieza knew about this place or how he unlocked his power. Also, whom is he fighting? It’s not a typical Frieza Force soldier, none of them would be able to keep up with any of your unsealed people.”

Whis was frowning, whilst staring at the crystal. Pan managed to close her jaw. She then took a look at everyone else.

Katara’s short breath has returned. From what she saw, Aang and Suki did not look much better than her. Toph also looked deeply unnerved, but less than them. Iroh, Pan and Pecha stared at the crystal, all frowning.

“How on the Earth…” Aang managed to exclaim.

“It doesn’t matter how for now.” Pan said. “We should focus on getting Sokka out of there. We can figure out Frieza’s secret later.”

“You don’t understand. That’s Azula whom he is fighting.” Aang said.

“Zuko’s crazy sister? The one that he let roam free despite her instability? Well, your prediction came true fast, Toph.” Bulla commented.

“Wait, that’s Azula?” Toph almost screamed.

“Indeed. In the flesh. I do wonder how she ended up there.” Iroh commented.

“Wait… you didn’t know?” Aang now looked at Toph.

“I was blind when I met her last time. I didn’t know what she looked like. And I bloody saw her yesterday and I couldn’t tell!”

“Wait, yesterday? Where, when exactly?” Aang asked, visibly shaken.

“When we were hunting those fake Kemurikage spirits! She just stood there on the main street and stared at me, as if she saw a ghost!” Toph looked more angry than worried.

“This is just insane. And she is unsealed too. Look at how they are fighting, it’s crazy. I have never seen something like this.” Suki commented. She said more or less what Katara was thinking, but the waterbender was not capable of making a sound yet.

“We will get her too. Crazy or not, they both need to be as far away from Frieza as possible.” Pan said.

“Yes. And naturally, we will inform the Galactic Patrol, the Galactic King and all the others. Seems that this planet needs a regular surveillance.” Bulla added.

“And who are those people, if I might ask? I prefer to know who is watching over our world.” Iroh turned to her.

“Enemies of Frieza. You can at the very least trust them to fight him at all cost. And we will need them here.” Pecha said, letting out a big sigh. “Frieza was killed in the past before by a Saiyan, and I guess that you two are related to him in some way.”

Katara understood what was said, more or less, but she did not know how to respond yet. Aang moved over to Katara and embraced her. He most likely noticed how distressed she was now.

 “Indeed. That Sayian is my grandpa Goku. I will call him over and he will get Sokka and Azula away from Frieza in an instant.” Pan said. She moved in closer to Katara and placed a hand on her shoulder as she was speaking the second sentence.

“Please tell me that it was not intentional…” Bulla suddenly frowned, sporting a mean smile.

“What was… Oh.” Pan said. “Not this one. There’s no time for stupid jokes.” With that said, she pulled out a small orb from her pocket. Completely lost, Katara somewhat pondered on a fact that it was similar to the piece of crystal on top of Whis’s staff. Pan moved it near her mouth and started to speak to it: “Gramps, are you there? We need your help, please respond.”

 “Haven’t seen that device before. Could be handy if Sokka had one.” Suki commented.

“Hmmm, I believe that we demonstrated it beforehand.” Bulla said.

“Suki left before you did. You know, when you met last time.” Toph said.

“I remember...” Suki’s eyes narrowed a bit. “I left to guard the ship. I guess I did not want to stick around after you told my friend to piss off because she was too weak for you.”

“Firstly, it’s an objective assessment, not an opinion. You guys have way less Chi that we do, and therefore are unable to perform certain feats that were useful in that situation. Secondly, if you allow your feelings to drive your decisions so easily, you do not come off as wise.”

Anger crept onto Suki’s face. Iroh, who has been observing the two girls in the meanwhile, suddenly spoke:

“May I know how is your grandfather capable of rescuing Sokka and Azula? He is on a different planet than us, and I assume that he is not on the same one as they. Can he travel through the cosmos like Mr Whis?” He was smiling, and a genuine curiosity could be heard.

“He indeed can, albeit not in the same manner. He is a master of the Instant Transmission ability: he can appear at will in the nearest vicinity of any living creature as long as he can sense its Chi. Once Pan gets a hold of him, it will be over in a couple minutes.” Bulla explained. Pan repeated her message a few times in the meanwhile. Suki calmed down, while listening to her.

“What we will do with…” Aang started.

“I would recommend focusing at one thing at a time. We will decide what to do about Sokka’s and Azula’s awakening once they are here.” Whis commented.

“We will also have to do something about Frieza’s apparent knowledge about your world’s secret.” Bulla commented. “Do not worry too much. We have a few ways to deal with it.”

“I hope so. I did not think that it would get unveiled so quickly.” Iroh frowned again.

“Why it has to be Frieza of all people… why him…” Pecha muttered. He appeared to be more or less absent throughout the conversation, sometimes whispering things like these under his nose. He was not panicking like before, but still his eyes were closed, his expression tense.

Katara sort of felt like joining him, albeit repeating different phrases. And then, she felt a surge of anger.

“I’m sick of being powerless. I want to do something about it all. Why the hell can’t I do anything about my brother being kidnapped?” She said, clenching her fists. Aang looked at her, clearly worried.

“I can understand the sentiment, I also prefer to act by myself on the matters that concern me.” Bulla said. “But this issue is beyond your own capacity to act. Fortunately, you can still do something: asking us for aid for example. Like I said, Pan’s grandpa should have the issue covered. Speaking of which: Pan, what is taking so long?”

“I don’t know, he isn’t responding. As usual…” Pan answered, sounding exasperated. Katara gave her an irritated look.

“Let me handle this.” Bulla spoke, pulling out a similar orb out of her pocket. She placed it on an opened palm, and spoke to it:

“Dad, we have an emergency that needs your attention, please respond.”

After a few seconds, the orb lit up with green light, and displayed an image of a middle-aged man with black spiky hair in a bit flamelike haircut and a giant widow’s peak. He also had a pointy nose and somewhat triangular face. His eyes looked as if they were fixed in a permanent frown. He was wearing a blue suit with a piece of armour on top that resembled Pecha’s.

“What emergency? Are you alright? Did anything happen to you? Did you get hurt during the…”

His speech was broken by someone flying in from the side, delivering a powerful kick right to his face. Suki, Katara and Aang all gasped at once.

“Oh my, that must have hurt.” Iroh commented.

“Hah! Got you, Vegeta!” A shout could be heard.

Man named Vegeta was dazzled, apparently flying downwards. After a few seconds, a lot of dust covered the view in the orb. Afterwards, they saw him back again, lifting himself up from the ground.

Some inaudible shouts could be heard in the background, probably from the same guy who just kicked him. However, Vegeta seemed to pay no attention to them.

Instead, he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He looked as if he was about to explode. After a few seconds, he opened his mouth and inhaled.

What came afterwards was hardly different from an explosion. Sounds powerful enough to make everyone flinch and move away from the orb carried the following words:

“COULD YOU NOT INTERRUPT ME WHILE I AM TALKING TO MY DAUGHTER YOU DUMBASS?!?”

Pecha stood up after this one.

“Apologies, but I have something to do on the ship. Besides, I always feel a bit scared when seeing his face.” With these words, he left the chamber.

“Nice to hear that my father is well respected through the galaxy.” Bulla commented with a smirk.

Before anyone managed to react, the second man came into the view in the orb. His face was a bit similar to Vegeta’s, however his eyes had a bit happier spark in them. His hair was also different, being more of a chaotic mess spread in all directions. He wore an orange fighting suit. Katara managed to notice that it was similar to the ones that waited for them on Beerus’s world.

“Sorry, Vegeta, I didn’t notice!” The new man spoke.

“I was talking to a crystal in my hand, what the hell you think I was doing?” Vegeta commented, before turning his attention back to Bulla. “I’m sorry, honey, this idiot didn’t let me finish my sentence. Did you get hurt during the training?”

“Do not worry, dad. I was not injured in any way. However, we require uncle Goku’s assistance with a certain trouble our friends have fallen into.” Bulla was smiling.

“Yeah, thanks for answering by the way, gramps.” Pan chimed in, frowning at the man called Goku.

“Oh, sorry Pan, we were in the middle of a training session here. I didn’t hear your call.”

Pan just sighed. “Of course you didn’t. As always, you are deaf to them. And as always uncle Vegeta can hear every single call in the meanwhile. Whatever, just get over here.”

“On my way!” Goku seemed to pay no attention to this little rant. He then pointed his two fingers to his forehead and closed his eyes.

He disappeared from the view of the orb. And then, a second later, he popped into existence right next to them.

Katara could not help but flinch when it happened. Not just because of his sudden appearance, but also because of his Chi. It was enormous, much greater than that of Pan or Bulla when they fought with them.

“Hey there, everyone!” The man called Goku spoke.

He looked around, appearing a bit confused. Much less than Katara and the others were at the sight of him.

“Oh, hello! I don’t think we have met before. My name is Goku!”

“So we’ve heard.” Toph answered.

“Any particular reason you left me behind, Kakarot?” Vegeta could be heard from the orb.

“Gramps, this is Toph.” Pan said, ignoring Vegeta. “And this is Katara, Aang, Suki, Mr Iroh and Pecha.” She pointed at each respective person.

Iroh was the only non-alien in the room that was calm enough to respond: “Pleasure to meet you, mister Goku.”

“Aang, Katara and Toph are Whis’s new students. And we summoned you here, because two of their friends have been kidnapped by Frieza.” Bulla explained. “Dad, we will need to notify the Galactic King and his Patrol about this planet, it needs the guardian lattice and early warning network. A stellar gate would be nice as well.” She spoke to the orb.

“Wait, Whis got some new students? That’s awesome!” Goku interrupted her. He then taxed the trio shortly. He focused his attention on Aang, and asked: “Hey, can we spar for a bit? You look like the strongest of you three!”

“Well… I don’t think I can handle myself very well in a battle with you. We just begun our training, like, two days ago…” Aang looked away from Goku and took a step backwards, visibly unnerved.

“Oh, that’s a shame! Hey, how about you, miss?” He then turned towards Katara.

She froze. Between everything that has happened right now, getting challenged by a super-powerful alien that dwarfed her other alien friends by far was not a calming idea.

“Gramps, stop messing around and just go find Azula and Sokka!” Pan shouted. Goku freaked out, as if he saw a ghost.

“Uhhh, yes, of course Chi-Chi!” He giggled nervously, and then turned towards Katara and the others. “Well, don’t worry, guys, I will get your friends back here in no time!”

Pan looked now as if she was about to explode. Bulla just snorted here. Katara felt as if she was missing some reference here, given how he called Pan, but decided not to ponder on it, as Goku closed his eyes and pointed at his forehead with two fingers, apparently preparing to teleport again.

Only to then turn towards Whis and ask:

“Umm, can you give me some pointers? Where these guys are? I can’t sense Frieza, and I don’t know their energy.”

“Try in this direction. There is a planet there that is similar to Earth. The people you are looking for will be two strongest power levels nearby. The others might include some Frieza Force soldiers, as well as Frieza himself.” Whis pointed his hand appropriately.

“Okay!” Goku closed his eyes again. After a second, he brightened up and said: “There they are. Okay, see you in a bit!”

With these words he finally disappeared.

“Let’s have a look. He is already there.” Whis said, gesturing everyone to come near him.

“I’m not going to watch an orb from another orb.” Vegeta grunted. He then repeated the same gesture that Goku did before teleporting and appeared next to his daughter.

Katara got a bit startled, and so did everyone else from her world. This man’s Chi was just as big as his friend’s, if not stronger.

Iroh managed to open his mouth this time around, clearly with the intention of greeting the new guest, but Vegeta looked at him and spoke first:

“We will exchange pleasantries later, after the idiot is back. I need to focus on what’s going on in case he needs help.”

“Oh, sure. Sounds sensible.” Iroh appeared a bit disconcerted.

Bulla chuckled lightly. “Stern as always, daddy.”

“Or rude…” Katara muttered.

Vegeta just growled a bit, but said nothing, staring at the orb intently.

 

* * *

 

Sokka dodged a fire stream. Yet another, after probably a couple thousands at this point.

He was doing surprisingly well, in his own opinion. Azula did outclass him in pretty much every regard, but his waterbent weapons somewhat evened the playing field, especially the shield. He was particularly proud of his swordplay though. At one occasion, he fused the shield and the sword together into a single huge blade and slammed the ground multiple times, during intense overhead attacks. It was a relatively stupid move, but it did get Azula to flinch a bit, escaping into the air. And it looked cool.

Azula didn’t wait long with countering this tactic. The moment his shield was gone, she released a stream of fire so dense and narrow that it resembled a beam of light. Intense, unpleasant, bloodthirsty light that was hell bent on murdering him.

Sokka didn’t even know how he arrived at such a comparison. Normally he was not much of a specialist in symbolism and mystics, but this poetic idea occurred very naturally to him.

He had no time to think about it more. Azula went for another dive and combined it with a reverse fire whip, which consumed all of his concentration to dodge.

Fortunately, he succeeded. And that move left the firebender quite open to his retaliation, given that she was forced to land due to too high speed.

He fused the shield and sword together again and jumped forward with another overhead slash.

Suddenly, a middle-aged man appeared out of nowhere in front of him, perfectly in the line of the cut. Before Sokka could even say anything, the blade landed square on his head.

It bounced away, as if it hit a rock. The man did not look particularly hurt, but he still let out a small shout:

“Ow, watch out!” He then looked at the weapon that struck him. “Woah! That is one hell of a massive sword! Where did you get it?”

“Um…” Sokka was not sure why this guy was not split in half now, or why he appeared in front of him out of nowhere for that matter.

“Wait, what it is even made of? I’ve never seen a sword like this before!” The man added.

“Who are you?” Azula could be heard from behind him. She stood in a battle stance, taxing him carefully.

“Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Goku! I came here to rescue you!”

“And who sent you?” Azula asked.

“My granddaughter Pan. She told me that you were kidnapped by Frieza. Come on, let’s get out of here!” He spoke quickly.

“Ah, yes, Pan. I’ve heard of her. Let’s assume that you speak the truth. If that is the case, then how exactly are you…” Azula wanted to continue, but Sokka interrupted her.

“I guess the same way he got here, whatever that was. Stop yapping and just go!” He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards that Goku man.

“Ah, and you ruin the fun, and it isn’t even what I wanted to ask.” Short pause. Sokka didn’t respond as he walked. “Oh well, as you wish.” She moaned loudly, but she did not resist. Sokka grabbed Goku’s hand.

“Just one thing: What fun could possibly be in this situation?” Sokka asked out loud.

He then realised that he was talking to a group of familiar faces. Right in front of him there was Katara. She jumped onto him in an embrace.

“Meh, I guess none, now that you’re back.” He heard Toph speaking.

Before he figured out where her voice was coming from, Suki jumped in and embraced him too. “I was worried sick about you!” She spoke.

Now Sokka could not see anything anymore, his visions obstructed with lots of hair. However, he heard a familiar voice.

“Uncle Goku, you need to go to New Namek and make a wish to their Dragon Balls. Mom told me recently that ours were busted when she tried to use them. Frieza and his men all need to forget that this world exists, all the records of it should be erased from their databases, and Frieza needs to lose the ability that gave him and her their power.”

“Umm, could you repeat that middle part? I didn’t quite get it…” The confused voice of Goku could be heard.

“Whatever, I will repeat this to you through the communicator, just get going already!” Another voice joined in.

“Pan, that’s not the way to talk to your grandpa!” Goku responded.

Pan’s voice hissed, and then spoke. “Oh, now you remember. That’s great and all, but here is something else to remember: New Namek. Now!” Her voice was almost scary.

“Yes, yes, okay!” After these words, Sokka heard a weird sound. Now he realised that he also heard it when they got back into that dining hall. It was very high pitched and sort of painful, but short.

Sokka decided to disengage from the two girls. He noticed someone he did not know, standing next to Bulla: a man of short posture, with weird spiky hair, somewhat similar to Goku, but way more serious looking.

“What are those Dragon Balls, that you deem able to help us with Frieza?” Iroh asked, looking at the Saiyan girls.

“They are a set of magical orbs that summon a dragon that grants wishes. Don’t ask me how they work exactly, I haven’t had a chance to find out.” Pan quickly responded.

“It does not matter anyway. The dragon should not have any trouble fulfilling those wishes. In a few minutes, Frieza will not remember anything that has transpired in this corner of the universe.” Bulla spoke. She moved over to them, apparently done with the crystal.

Katara sighed and smiled towards the two girls. “What would we do without you…”

“You would be enslaved or destroyed by Frieza. And speaking of him, how did the two of you end up on one of his planets?” The spiky hair man asked, looking at Sokka. Everyone else also stared at him in anticipation. Everyone except Azula, who was now standing by the wall, smirking. Aang and Toph were near her, probably paying attention to her every move with their earth senses.

“Also: why she was there of all people?” Katara asked.

“My, my. Isn’t it rude to talk about someone right next to you as if they weren’t even there?” Azula rolled her eyes, speaking in her favourite condescending tone.

“Shut up. We will deal with you later.” Katara barked at her. Azula send her a gaze that could be considered, lightly speaking, cold, but she did not say anything back.

“Well, it’s kind of a long story…” Sokka started.

 

* * *

 

“Okay, Pan, everything is set!” Goku said, looking at the communication crystal.

A giant dragon was hovering over his head, courtesy of the Namekians. Usually they didn’t want to let them use the Dragon Balls without a good reason. Fortunately, they were happy to help with screwing over Frieza.

“First wish then. Say: ‘I want Frieza and his men to forget everything that they know about the world of the Avatar’”.

Before Goku managed to react, the dragon did.

“As you command, so it shall be.”

It’s eyes glowed red for a brief second. Then, it spoke again: “Done. What is your next wish?”

“Oh, that simplifies matters. Ok, here it goes…” Pan spoke through the orb.

 

* * *

 

Frieza felt a sudden surge of pressure on him, just as if he forgot something important and tried to recall it very hard. An unpleasant feeling, but he expected that to happen.

“I felt it, and so did you. The wish has been made on the dragon.” Berrada spoke, looking at him. He then turned towards Kikono and Berryblue and said: “Do you remember the reason why we are here?”

They both looked first at the magician, then at Frieza and then at each other. “We do not, my lord.” Berryblue responded. “I had it at the top of my head, but I can’t tell what it was now.”

“And you, my lord? Do you remember?” The magician turned back to him.

Frieza closed his eyes for a moment. The image of Azula, the little witty firebender girl, spawned shortly in his mind. “Yes, indeed. You have done well.”

After a few more seconds he felt another surge of pressure.

“Hmmm, this felt different than before. I still have my memories though. What if…”

He pointed his hand at Berrada and tried to invoke the ability to unseal power. However, even though the concept of what he should do came to his mind, no aura was stirred in either him or his target. He could not invoke the relevant feeling. “Well, well. It seems that this wish actually worked.”

Berrada pointed his hand at Frieza. A white light appeared, enveloping the emperor. It swiftly restored Frieza’s memory of how this skill was supposed to feel.

“Not for long though.” The magician commented.

They both looked at each other for a few seconds, before bursting with laughter.

 

* * *

 

“Well, now at the very least we know why the Dragon Balls were inactive.” Bulla commented.

“Frieza’s sleeper cells... And there was me thinking that the slippery bastard finally gave up on trying to steal our wishes.” Vegeta somehow managed to look even more stern than when he arrived. “Bulla, I need to go. The Galactic King needs to hear about all of this. Do not worry, everyone.” He turned towards Iroh. “Frieza will not get anywhere close to either of our worlds ever again.” He taxed all the other locals shortly.

Katara nodded mindlessly. Her head was still a mess after the rest of Sokka’s story.

Iroh opened his mouth again, most likely to respond to Vegeta, but the Sayian put his fingers on his forehead again and disappeared before he could do so.

“Oh. Too bad he disappeared so quickly. I wanted to thank him for his kindness.” Iroh smiled.

“He is always like that. I will forward your gratitude to him when I get the chance, Mr Iroh.” Bulla responded.

 “Thank you very much, my dear. Well then:” He turned towards Sokka and Azula. “The only matter that remains is of you two. You have been granted the powers that were meant only for Aang, Katara and Toph, which goes against the deal we have made with Lord Beerus.” He then looked at the angel. “I hope that this accident will not provoke your lord’s anger, Mr Whis.”

“Can’t they be sealed back? You were there when this spell was first made, can’t you do it again?” Toph asked, also looking at Whis.

“In order: My lord is currently asleep. Therefore, anything that has transpired here will not reach his ears until he decides to wake up again. And knowing him, is not poss…” He paused here, looking somewhat absentminded. He recovered after a few seconds and continued: “It’s less likely that he will wake early than that he will be late. So, we have plenty of time to deal with the issue before he finds out. And for the second question: Yes, I can indeed seal your friends back effortlessly.”

Azula looked at him for a moment as if she wanted to ask him a question, but before she opened her mouth, Whis went on:

“The question is however: do you want me to do it? It’s a prime opportunity to increase your chances during Lord Beerus’s challenge. Maybe reconsider taking an advantage of the situation.”

This stumped everyone. Katara did not expect that suggestion to come from him. From Azula obviously, from some of her own friends as well, but not him.

“Wait, wouldn’t Beerus get mad if he discovered that they cheated?” Bulla asked.

“Why does it matter anyway?” Azula spoke. “If he comes over here, we will have to fight him. If we win, he will leave us alone, and if we lose, we are dead and so is this world. What difference will a few unsealed people make?”

“Since when it’s ‘we’? You really expect us to let you keep these powers?” Katara barked at her.

“It’s the most sensible solution. Beerus is an opponent with an endless wealth of experience, and a god on top of that. We should realistically be awakening as many people as possible to fight him.” Azula responded.

“You would have a point here, young lady. However, there are two problems with that statement. First, I can only train so many people at the time. And without my help, you stand very little chance during the battle with my master. Secondly, if he found an unsealed army of you, he could consider this a betrayal of his trust and destroy you and your world immediately, without giving you any chance to fight back.”

“Naturally he could do that, but is that not the case anyway?” Azula asked back. “What difference does it make if he lets us defend ourselves or not? I would not just wait for him to destroy me, and I doubt that anyone in this room would, so isn’t the final result the same?”

“Ah, you do not know of Lord Beerus’s power yet. Forgive me then for not clarifying. If he does not wish to fight you, he will use his power of Destruction. In other words, he will call upon a piece of divine magic that annihilates anything that he wishes. It wouldn’t matter if you tried to fight or not, he would just point his finger at you and erase you all the same.”

Katara shuddered. She saw him do it to that alien who hurt her, and it was not a pleasant memory.

“However, I am strongly convinced that he would let a person or two be unsealed, if I told him that it was my idea. Remember, that I originally wanted the four of you to be trained under my wing. Therefore, you are welcome to join in if you so desire.” He looked at the relevant people, focusing on Sokka at the end.

“I still can’t understand why you are so eager to take in new students.” Bulla smirked. “But I guess that it works to my advantage. Oh, and yours as well.” She looked at Katara and others.

“So, we get to keep Sokka? Sweet! I mean, yeah, sure, it’s nice to have SOME help…” Toph reacted.

“YES! Yes, yes, yes, yes…” Sokka visibly and audibly expressed his enthusiasm. “I mean, I am grateful that you wish to train me, sifu Whis.” He turned towards him and bowed.

“The pleasure is all mine. So, do you want to keep your other friend as well?” He asked, pointing at Azula.

“She is not our friend. And we do not wish to keep her.” Katara said with an annoyed tone.

“Yes, that is true. I am definitely not your friend. And I have no doubt that you will take some perverse pleasure in thwarting me again.” Azula spoke with somewhat annoyed tone. Then, it shifted to condescension: “I’m sure that it will matter a lot when Beerus destroys you all.”

“You really do suggest that we let you stick around…” Katara rolled her eyes. “No way in hell! We might as well just cut all of our throats and then blow up the planet ourselves! Or the other way around!” She was now getting angry, her voice shifting to near shout.

“It’s really silly that you would even consider this as an option.” Suki spoke to Azula. “You do realise that none of us would ever trust you, no matter what?”

“I do not expect trust, I expect cooperation. You make it sound as if I will sabotage you to help Beerus defeat you. I will not. I want this world saved just as much as you do.” Azula’s tone was now almost plain, as if she was saying something obvious.

“Well, that makes sense. If we lose, you will not be able to take it over for yourself after all.” Sokka said. “Still, you could sabotage us after the battle with Beerus.”

“I doubt that I will be able to do that either. Not with the four of you breathing down my neck and watching my every move. Sorry, seven. You have new friends now.” She pointed at the aliens present in the room with her head.

“Oh, and you don’t have any friends at all?” Katara asked with mocking tone. “I bet that there are plenty of people in the Fire Nation that would want to see you on the throne. Oh, and there is always Frieza. Why not call him?”

“Frieza? Really? It’s not that I know how to contact him at all. And even if I knew, then yeah, sure, that would work out great. He will definitely not just take all the power for himself while stabbing me in the back.” Azula used a condescending tone. She then shifted to a more serious one: “As for any of my hypothetical Fire Nation friends: our new powers make them all irrelevant. And all of that does not matter, because I don’t even want the throne in the first place.”

“Now that’s hard to believe. You don’t want the throne? Maybe you will also tell us that you are a waterbender all of a sudden?” Suki barked at her.

“Actually, she is. We practiced some waterbending while in Frieza’s custody.” Sokka said. Suki looked at him, her eyes wide open. Katara joined her. It was really hard to imagine Azula waterbending.

“My sister, a waterbender? I must have missed out on quite a lot of news.” A voice could suddenly be heard from the corridor.

“Zuko!” Aang shouted, in unison with Suki and Sokka. Indeed, the namesake Fire Lord walked through the door, taking a short look at the people in the room.

“It’s good to see you, everyone. I wanted to come sooner and meet you here, but a few audiences piled up one after the other.”

“Welcome. It’s good to see you too, your majesty.” Bulla said, while Pan just waved her hand. She sniggered after ‘your majesty’ bit.

“Glad to see you make it here at all.” Toph said. Katara just moved over to him and gave him a hug.

“Hello, brother…” Azula said, giving him quite a cold gaze.

“You have arrived at an opportune moment, my nephew.” Iroh said, smiling. “We were discussing some important matters with your sister. She has been unsealed in a similar manner to your friends, and now she wants to aid them during Lord Beerus’s challenge.”

“I am willing to let her keep her powers, just as I did with your friend Sokka, but ultimately it depends on you and your friends. If you decide against it, I will seal her back.” Whis said.

Zuko chuckled a bit, moving away from Katara. “I think I will need some catching up. How did it all happen exactly?”

“Ah, here we go with the same story again…” Bulla commented, rolling her eyes.

“Meh, I don’t mind repeating it. Here you go…” Sokka begun to speak.

 

* * *

 

“Well, here we go again: given everything that was discussed so far, does anyone see any reason to keep Azula around?” Katara said.

“Well, I do believe her when she says that she did not mean to let Frieza know about our secret, but that’s about all I can trust her with.” Sokka said.

“Don’t forget saving the world to conquer it later. That’s undisputable as well.” Toph added, causing Suki to snigger.

“And there was me thinking that you had some shred of sense. Please remind me again: is Beerus really able to wipe out the whole universe?” Azula spoke, her tone condescending as always.

“Yes, precisely.” Bulla said. “Each of you can perhaps break a star if you expelled your entire Chi in one go. And given that a universe contains trillions of stars, the gap between you and him is unfathomable.”

Katara just clenched her fists. Even though she knew of Beerus’s power already, putting it into numbers like this felt so much worse. Not mentioning recalling it yet again in such a dire situation.

“And you even argue to NOT let me aid you?” Azula said. “You really are insane. Would you perhaps like to visit my favourite asylum? I am sure that they still have a spot reserved for me, but it’s clear that you need it more than I do.”

“Actually, I think it will suit you just fine.” Katara said. “In the meanwhile, we will just recruit literally anyone else in your place. Are we allowed to do that, Mr Whis?” She turned to the angel.

“Yes, you are. If you prefer another candidate, I will seal miss Azula back and unlock their power instead. Still, she does interest me personally. She sports an incredible potential and she is also a firebender. If you have to choose someone else, please prioritise a similar candidate.”

“Oh, do not worry, we have plenty of powerful firebenders around. Two of them are in fact in this very room. Right, Zuko, Iroh?” Katara said.

They both looked at her a bit confused.

“Please. As far as I recall, my dear brother has his Fire Lord duties to attend to. And don’t even get me started on uncle Iroh.” She turned towards him and smirked. “Would you even survive to the end of the training? Assuming that you actually are stronger bender than me, which is debatable at best.”

“You should not underestimate an old man, my dear. There are plenty of things about firebending that I know of and that you still need to learn.”

“Like what, warming up tea?” Azula asked mockingly.

“A good example. You would be surprised how much precision and patience it takes, especially if you want to do it in secrecy.” Iroh responded. A note of pride could be heard in his voice. Zuko chuckled here and gave him a short look. “Still, I would personally vouch for someone younger than me to take my place. I am way past my prime. Stamina and sheer might may matter more than you think during this challenge. Perhaps you should reconsider your position, my nephew. I can take your place as the Fire Lord while you are away. And as I recall, it would not even be for that long. You lot were supposed to learn the ability to quickly travel from place to place, like the one that Mr Goku used today. Is that still true, Mr Whis?”

“Of course. Pan and Bulla will begin studying it very soon, perhaps even tomorrow.” Whis said. “Naturally, Aang and his friends will take some time before they can follow suit, but…”

“I can give you all a lift back here whenever you like!” Pan interrupted him.

“Meh, I suppose that I can help too, if you ask nicely.” Bulla said. “And provide me with some snacks as a tribute.”

“Materialist…” Pan muttered.

“There you go. There should be no trouble with attending any of your local duties here and training on our world at the same time.” Whis barged in before Bulla could respond to Pan.

“Well, if that is the case, then I suppose that my brother will take my place. Oh well, such a shame. I just hope that people of the Fire Nation will not miss their Fire Lord too badly while he is gone.” Azula spoke with clear condescension in her voice.

“They will not. I want you to keep your powers and undertake Lord Beerus’s challenge in my stead.” Zuko said to her.

Everyone from the Team Avatar got stumped. Iroh looked at his nephew with his eyes widening slightly. In the meanwhile, Azula sported a small mean smile.

“Zuko, we know that the Fire Nation is important to you, but that’s perhaps the precise reason why you should go with us.” Katara said.

“I am the Avatar, I’m supposed to maintain the balance of this world. Can’t do that without a world.” Aang commented. “So, I leave it for a bit to save it. You see the analogy?”

“It’s not about my duties. I don’t want uncle Iroh to go either, for that matter. I want it to be Azula.” Zuko said. “If you guys will refuse, I will go with you. But first, please hear me out. I want to give my sister a chance to do something good for the world for once.”

“It’s so nice of you, my brother. And, for once, I want to take that chance.” Azula now sounded suspiciously friendly.

“Zuko, I thought that letting Azula roam free was the dumbest idea ever, and I was correct.” Sokka said. “But you have just outdone yourself right now. Don’t you see the obvious dangers here? Why do you even consider that?”

Zuko closed his eyes for a moment, placing his hands on his forehead. It was clear that he was processing something intensely.

“Azula, could you go outside for a moment? I need to speak with my friends privately.” He said.

Azula looked at him a bit funny, but then suddenly brightened up and said: “Of course, of course. Discuss whatever you need before you decide on anything.” Her tone still had that friendliness vibe to it.

“Someone keep an eye on her! She is not going anywhere alone ever again!” Sokka shouted.

“Naturally…” Azula moaned slightly. “Who will that be?”

Zuko turned to the two Saiyan girls. “Could the two of you go with her? It’s not that I don’t want you around, I don’t really intend to hide anything from you, but…”

“But we know each other very shortly. I can respect some reservation when having ‘private’ talks with old friends. Besides, you trusted us with a lot of sensitive information anyway without complaining. Very well. We will accompany your sister to the garden.” Bulla spoke.

“Yeah, what she said. Have fun!” Pan added.

“I will go with them. Let us know when you arrive at a conclusion.” Whis said, taking a random snack from the table and standing up.

The group of aliens moved out from the room. Azula was told to walk in front of them, supposedly to remain in their sight at all times. She did so without hesitation.

Once they were gone, Sokka turned towards Zuko again.

“Ok. I suppose that now you will explain in thorough detail why on Earth you think that we should trust your sister?”

“You should not trust her. In fact, you should keep a careful eye on her. I doubt that she will try to cause you any serious harm as long as Beerus is an issue. Still, she might try to sabotage you in some way. Maybe she will impede your progress to an extent, so that she can be stronger than you, maybe she will try to make you fight with each other, or maybe she will just annoy you for the sake of it. Still, she will help you win that challenge at all cost, that much I am certain.”

“Perhaps those examples do not seem like much when you think about it this way, but such small obstacles can grow to significant issues, if given enough time and effort.” Iroh said. “I am also certain that she will want to save the world, but she might do more harm than good along the way, Zuko.”

“Why do you even vouch for her? You do know that you will be her first target if we win against Beerus? She wants to be the Fire Lord above all else!” Katara said.

“If that is the case, then why did she not use that letter against me? You know, the one where my mother told father that I was not his son? She had all that she needed to undermine my rule, and yet she didn’t.” Zuko said.

“Maybe she just lost it when she was running away.” Toph said.

“Azula does not just ‘lose’ valuable things. Not something like this. I really do believe that she would not take the throne, even if I offered her to abdicate for her sake.” Zuko said.

“Even if that is somehow true, I doubt that she will just leave you alone. She must have some agenda in here.” Suki said.

“That is undeniable. I did not say that she was completely honest with us. Hell, I will be the first to tell you that she lies most of the time, whenever it suits her.” Zuko said.

“There you go. You know that she is up to something. Hell, I saw the way she smiled when you proposed to keep her around. Why did I even tell her that you cared for her?...” Sokka moaned.

“She will want to use that to her advantage. That much is obvious. I displayed a glaring weakness that she wants to exploit. I bet that if we will not let her train with you, she will try to stick with me and abuse my trust in some other way.” Zuko said.

“If you know all of that, then why do you want to let her do anything? Wouldn’t it be easier to just lock her up with the loonies again?” Sokka asked.

“Maybe. Maybe it would. After all, I did lock up my father in prison already. I looked up to him for the majority of my life, and now I threw him away into a jail cell. He deserved it, after all.” Zuko said. His tone was now deadly serious. “It is a reasonable thing to do with Azula as well. She is dangerous, and she did horrible things in the past.”

A pause.

“Is this the only solution though? Is there really no hope for her? For either of them? Would they be different people if given a chance? What would happen if, for example, Azula was the one burned and exiled to search for the Avatar with uncle Iroh? Would you be discussing this problem with her now, with me waiting outside for the decision?”

Another pause.

“And what if any of us did horrible things in the future? Will we just toss each other in a mental facility, to be discarded and forgotten? I know this: I would not want to discard any of you, even if I had all the sensible reasons to do so. I don’t want to discard her either.”

Another pause.

“I admire your loyalty to your family. Still, I don’t think that my brother can change at all. He does not care about anything but himself, Zuko.” Iroh said. “And she is too much like him, way too much.”

“Perhaps. But she did care for me to an extent. She did drop that letter after I told her that I would care for her.” Short pause. “Perhaps it was all a ruse. Still, she almost certainly did care about what her mother thought of her. She did not land in that asylum for no reason.”

Another pause. Katara recalled when Azula snapped, back then, after the Agni Kai with her brother. She did feel somewhat sorry for her at that point, as weird as it felt now.

“Maybe she just needs a push in the right direction. To learn to rely on others and to be relied on. Maybe it’s more contact with people who are equal to her. Maybe it’s friends. I want to give it a go myself and I want your help. Can you please do it for me?”

Short pause.

“In any other circumstances, I would want to, Zuko…” Katara said. “I am just so afraid. There is so much at stake here…” She looked down at the floor.

“Well, we can make it work. We will be able to keep an eye on her at all times this way.” Toph said. “She will not be able to do anything without me knowing. And I bet that Pan will be willing to help guard her as well. And on top of that, Azula can’t do any funny business while locked up on Beerus’s world.” She paused for a moment, before continuing. “We will have to watch out for her trying to get into our heads though. I bet that she will turn our lives into a living nightmare.”

“Maybe so. Or, maybe we can just get into her head instead! You know, with friendship and positive thinking!” Aang said, smiling.

“I wish I had your naivety…” Toph muttered.

Short pause.

“Sokka, what do you think?” Zuko said.

“Meh, you followed me into a prison for my family. I guess I can risk getting backstabbed for yours.” Sokka said. “If no one else has any issues, I am onboard. Right after I get a set of armour to sleep in from now on.”

“I still can’t understand why do you feel about her so strongly, Zuko. Wasn’t she always mean and abusive towards you?” Suki asked.

“Believe me or not, but she wasn’t. We did have some good moments together…” Zuko said. “Wish that Mai and Ty Lee were here, they could tell you a story or two. There was that one time when we were all together at Ember Island on a holiday, for example. Me, them and Azula. You would be surprised how well we got along that day…” He smiled to himself.

“Wasn’t that the time when you wrecked a poor boy’s house after a party? I heard some stories from his father, who happens to be one of the Fire Nation army generals.” Iroh said.

“Yeah, that was it.” Zuko said.

“Well, I guess the bad guys need to have some fun too. No offence, Zuko, but you were still a bad guy to us at that point, if it happened when I think it did. You could not have been with Azula at a party after you joined us.” Sokka said.

“No, I could not. And speaking of bad guy stuff: you remember that Fire Nation assassin that I sent after you?” Zuko asked.

“The Combustion Man? Hard to forget that one.” Toph said.

“He sent an assassin after you?” Suki said, and then turned towards Aang. “And you let him into the team after that?” Some amusement could be heard in her voice.

“Zuko did try to stop him, including offering him double pay for quitting the mission.” Aang said. “And he prevented him from blowing us off the cliff. Sokka was then able to hit the Combustion Man with the boomerang and make him explode. So, we kind of forgave him that bit.”

Suki paused here for a bit. “Ok… whatever you say. So, what does he have to do with Azula?”

“After Ba Sing Se and your defeat, I was welcomed back in the capital and accepted by my father. He was very satisfied with me for some reason, more than I expected him to be. I wasn’t sure why, but then it turned out that Azula told him that I struck down the Avatar, even though it was her. Sorry for reminding you about it…”

“It’s alright, but why would she do that?” Katara asked.

“I asked her the same thing. She told me that she wanted me to take the credit and all the glory, as I needed it more than her. And then she added that should the Avatar be still alive, all that glory would turn into shame. I think that she suspected that it might be the case, just as I did. I did believe that you could use that spirit water to revive Aang.” He turned towards Katara for that sentence. “She might have read it from one of our earlier talks.”

“And both of you were correct. And if she figured it out, then her motive was obvious: she wanted to push the consequences of the failure onto you.” Suki said.

“That might be the case, but why would she warn me about it if that was her only motive? Wouldn’t it be better for her to lie to me fully, and just leave me guessing? She did touch on this topic a few times, while I tried to forget about it. If she had not reminded me about it, I probably would not have sent that assassin after you. Did she gain anything for herself by doing that?”

Another pause. Katara could not really figure out what Azula’s goal was here.

“She also knew that I visited you in prison, uncle, and she never mentioned it to anyone. Not even father. She confronted me about it once in complete secrecy and all she told me was that she was worried about me. Would not that be a good leverage against me, that she could abuse?”

Everyone was silent for a moment. Then Iroh spoke:

“I think that Azula was covering all of her bases. She could indeed use all of that against you, but she did not act without a clear need for it. Which would imply that she was perfectly happy for you to succeed if she could have some influence over you in the meanwhile.” Iroh said. “And, should you fail, she could effortlessly take your place. Which actually happened from her and Ozai’s point of view, when you turned to Aang’s side. Still, she gave you a surprising amount of security and aid, given that her most likely goal was to exploit you in some way.”

“Exactly. And that’s why I think that she cares about me to an extent. Even if she does not believe it herself, there is something human left in her.”

Short pause.

“Well, that answers my question. And if you are right, Zuko, then perhaps there is some hope for her. Still, I won’t have to deal with her every day from now on, so my opinion does not matter that much. Katara, Aang, Toph, you should speak up now. Are you or are you not on board with Azula joining you?” Suki asked.

“She will definitely help us out with Beerus, and that’s already something. If there is a chance that she will turn into a nice person along the way, then it’s worth a shot.” Aang said.

“’Nice’ might be overly enthusiastic Aang, even for you. Still, if all of you agree on this, then I will as well. If you care about giving her a chance so strongly, Zuko, then I will do anything in my power to help with that. I just hope we will not regret it in the future.” Katara said.

“We will not if we will guard her carefully enough. Between me, Pan and Whis’s staff, we should have her completely covered.” Toph said. “So yeah, let’s do it.”

“Thank you all. I really hope that I am not putting too much strain on you now…” Zuko said after a pause.

“Time will tell. If anything goes wrong, we can probably withdraw her from the team with the help of Mr Whis. We should confirm it with him.” Iroh said.

“If that’s the case, then it is settled. The worst idea in the history of worst ideas, here we go!” Sokka said, successfully parodying an enthusiastic tone.

 

* * *

 

“You are accepted in the team, Azula.” Aang spoke. The Fire Nation princess was called back into the dining room, along with all of the aliens. “And that means that we need to work together from now on. Are you happy with that?”

“Naturally. I bear no ill will towards any of you. Especially given our current dire circumstances.” Azula said. She still sported a weirdly friendly smile and tone.

“Pan, Bulla, Mr Whis. As much as I would want to believe that Azula will now cooperate with us, she is still known to be problematic person. Which means that she may or may not cause some trouble, which might affect you in some way. Are you happy with that?”

“I suppose it’s acceptable. It’s not that I know her very much, or at all.” Bulla said.

“And if she has any beef with anyone here, it’s with you guys. We should be alright.” Pan said.

“As for me: as I said before, I am happy to teach her.” Whis said. “So, let’s move on. Since we will be heading back to Lord Beerus’s planet soon, I would suggest that we stay here. I still have some delicacies to go through, after all.” He pointed at some dishes on the table. “In the meanwhile, you lot should introduce your new peer to our rules, and perhaps to the exercises as well. We will be doing some of them today.”

“Well, I guess we can do that…” Sokka commented.

“Oh, I bet that the princess will love it. After all, who does not adore pushing rocks and running with super heavy weights, wondering if your back became a waterfall?” Pan said.

“Oh, you make it sound so trivial and low. Where is your sense of challenge and competition?” Bulla commented.

“Exactly. I would rather focus on what I can accomplish with these exercises, as opposed to their difficulty. I am not scared of any effort as long as there is any purpose to it.” Azula chimed in.

Everyone took places at the table. All of Aang’s friends visibly tried to keep their distance to Azula, except Zuko. Whis and Iroh went to the opposite end of the table, but that was mostly because the majority of the snacks was located there.

“Did you really mean that bit with the effort, Azula? And there was me thinking that you do not move anywhere without your palanquin.” Zuko said to her after sitting down himself.

“You are obviously correct, I do not. I even carried it on my Komodo rhino when I was chasing you and the Avatar at the same time.” She spoke to him. Her usual condescending tone has returned.

“You use palanquins over here? I always wanted one, but my mom kept telling me that that nobody will want to move it around for me.” Bulla spoke to her.

“They are used by the nobility and royalty around the world.” Azula turned to her. “Speaking of nobility, do you have any form of higher class origin? Otherwise, a palanquin would be wasted on you.”

“Ohh, you did not just say that…” Pan reacted.

Much to Aang’s surprise (and probably Pan’s), Bulla kept a completely calm tone and expression as she talked:

“I just so happen to be royalty myself. The Princess of all Saiyans, to be specific. Therefore, I do hope that you plan to take me for a palanquin ride around the city as a form of an apology for that lowly suggestion?”

“Very well. If you indeed come from royalty, I will be glad to show you around the capital. It’s always refreshing to meet someone of respectful standing.”

“Oh, please, no…” Pan moaned.

“Oh, please, yes. The interest is mutual, princess Azula. I do hope that we will arrive at a mutual understanding.” Bulla spoke, smirking.

Meanwhile, Iroh and Whis started to talk, keeping their voices down. Aang got somewhat curious, so he shifted his attention to them.

“Now, just in case something goes wrong: if Azula does sabotage the efforts of Aang and the others, can we replace her with my nephew?” Iroh said.

“Of course. If she does cause some significant trouble, I will expel her myself. Still, it would be better for all of you if she did not. Zuko will have a much harder time catching up with everyone if he starts late.” Whis responded.

“I hope that it will not come to that, but I cannot make any guarantees when it comes to my niece.” Iroh said.

Aang drifted away into his thoughts for a bit. He did not see any reason for Azula to openly undermine their efforts, but then again, he had to admit that she was unpredictable and menacing. There was no way of telling what she could be up to next.


	6. Frigid reunion

Katara was gasping, clinging to the side of the bathroom door.

After their return to Beerus’s world, Whis led the group through a set of exercises, some returning from the day before as well as some new ones. The most exhausting one, ironically, was not one of the gauntlets of strength and speed, nor was it any of the combat practice. It was the meditation meant to sense and control one’s Chi. Whis specifically tasked them to sit down and create a small light between their palms. Ideally a yellow orb, as demonstrated by the two Saiyan girls.

It went dramatically bad for the majority of the Team Avatar. Funnily enough, they kept creating massive spouts and columns of light, comprised of the aura raging around them. They also spawned many instances of the elements reacting to their Chi (ranging from tiny flames to large moving objects).

Aang’s attempt was the best. He had managed to manipulate his aura somehow, squashing it into a ball around his hands. Still, the effort from this feat caused more and more energy to spawn around him, throwing him into an endless loop of summoning more Chi from the attempts of containing it. On top of that, it was not even the correct way to do it. Whis explained to them that the visible aura was formed of Chi that has gone beyond its user’s control, or ‘leaked out’ in his own words.

Still, at the very least he had managed to manipulate it. Katara could not even get it to calm down near the end of the exercise, as she was getting angrier and angrier at herself with time. The fact that Azula kept boasting that her attempts were second best did not help. Nor did her presence in the first place.

Everyone paid strict attention to the princess during the exercises. Katara felt attacks of paranoia during the battles as well as during the race around the edge. Her imagination worked against her and summoned the images of Sokka being pushed off the world or Aang getting shot with a lightning.

However, the firebender girl did absolutely nothing out of line. She kept her distance to everyone during the race, said nothing or showed no anger when Pan won it, completely ignored everything but the weights during the lifting exercises and then asked for Bulla and Toph to be her sparring partners. The only hostile instances of her speech included mentioned boasting and some trash talking during fights: and almost everyone did the latter anyway.

She was so peaceful that it was unnerving. Katara would almost prefer for her to try and sneakily attack them or keep bad-mouthing them in some way, but she didn’t even do that. Almost as if she actually meant what she said during the discussion with Zuko and truly did not intend to compromise their efforts. Katara was quite certain that it was the exact opposite, but she could not read anything evil from her right now. And she knew that Azula could hide her secrets better than any of them, which was even more unnerving in this scenario.

“Hey, how long are you going to stand there? Come on and join in!” She heard a voice, interrupting her trail of thought.

Pan waved her over from where she stood, near the edge of a giant basin made of hexagonal stones. Multiple streams of water flew from a large central column into a few such pools, connected together into a flower shaped complex. Some of the streams were hot and some cold, forming different combinations of heat in each of the ponds. There were also a few extra basins on the sides, their water coming from the walls or pillars similar to the one in the middle.

Katara sighed. Partially out of tiredness and partially out of amazement at this extravagant chamber. It was massive, and also partially open, revealing the view of the glades, forests and the pink sky.

“Ok, I’m going, let me catch my breath…”

It was only a few meters to the pool, but it felt like the other end of the world in Katara’s current state. Still, she managed to struggle her way towards the edge, and sit on it.

Pan and Bulla were already in the pool, and so was Toph. Azula was in the chamber as well, but she entered a basin near the opened wall, far away from everyone else. Meanwhile, Sokka and Aang were wandering around, checking out each of the pools’ heat and discussing the way the fountains worked. Sokka was particularly interested to know what powered them, while Aang was mostly busy marvelling at them.

Katara slipped into the bath and sighed in relief. It had just the right temperature, warm enough to relax the muscles but not hot enough to burn. Katara enjoyed it for a while in silence.

After making a full round and touching the water in each of the ponds, the two boys came around to the one which Katara and the girls occupied. Sokka jumped in immediately, making a large splash, while Aang carefully stepped in near Katara.

Bulla looked at them, appearing somewhat distraught. It was quite an unusual expression on her face, and it made Katara pay closer attention as she spoke:

“Excuse me, but do you intend to reside in the same chamber as we do? Not mentioning in the same basin?”

“Umm, I thought it was obvious?” Sokka responded. “We were here for like five minutes already, why do you suddenly freak out now?”

Katara chuckled lightly. She realised what Bulla’s problem was, and she also realised why Sokka and Aang were completely oblivious to it.

“Why do I freak out?!” Bulla tone became sharper. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe because in a civilised society guys and girls don’t bathe together?”

This caused Sokka to stop with his mouth open, and then look down at the water in shame.

Katara chuckled again, and then spoke to Bulla:

“Please forgive them this little lack of insight. Before we met you, we travelled together a lot, and we often splashed around in water before doing proper baths. They are simply used to sticking with us. Sometimes we even bathed together, when there was no time to take turns… although we did keep some distance to each other, naturally.”

“Oh… I suppose that it makes some sense.” Bulla said, returning to a calm tone. “Still, a bit unorthodox. Why would you need to bathe together at all?”

“Well, usually, we were in danger and needed to stay together for safety.” Sokka spoke, having regained his composure. “You know, one time we were chased by a crazy prince, some other time by a crazy princess… the latter sitting over there:” He pointed at Azula, who either didn’t hear him or ignored him. “And the former being her brother, Zuko. So yeah, then we washed together, if at all. And we usually kept some clothes on anyway when that happened.”

“And I didn’t give a damn anyway about what they did or what they wore. They can wash their private parts in my face for all I care.” Toph commented. She had her eyes closed during the whole exchange.

This got everyone stumped, especially Sokka and Aang. Katara almost laughed out loud, before she spoke:

“Toph, a reminder: you are not blind anymore. Are you absolutely sure that you still don’t care about it?”

This got Pan and Bulla to laugh. Toph opened her eyes and stared at the two guys in an absolute confusion. Just as they did at her.

“Nevermind, I do care, get lost!” She shouted, getting all red on her face.

“Okay, okay, we are leaving. Jeez…” Sokka was also red. So was Aang. They got out of the basin and started walking outside.

“My, my, THAT wording. If I didn’t know that part about your sight, I would be a bit freaked out, Toph.” Bulla commented.

“Shut up.” The earthbender now sounded angry.

“By the way, wouldn’t you be able to see everything with your feet sense anyway?” Pan asked, smiling innocently.

Toph has become even more red. Sokka’s and Aang’s steps suddenly stopped. They were both dumbfounded.

“Look at it this way: it will help your Water Chakra develop. You know, the negative aspects.” Pan threw in.

Katara recalled what it was immediately. She felt her cheeks become hot. Toph however seemed out of the loop.

“What are you on about now?”

“Awww, she doesn’t know, it’s so cute.” Pan giggled.

“If you require a reminder, then let me help. The negative aspects of the Water Chakra include desires, lust and deviance. You are welcome.” Bulla spoke, barely holding down a laugh.

The minds of all members of the team Avatar in the room threw an error at the same time.

“Come on, don’t you have a thing for any of the boys here?” Pan also seemed extremely amused.

“SHUT UP!” Toph screamed, punching the fountain pillar. Two large earth blocks flew sideways out of it and slammed Sokka and Aang, launching them out of the room. Katara looked at them and flinched a bit when they both hit the wall of the outside corridor, but then noticed that they were unharmed. Physically, at least.

“Okay, we get the idea…” Sokka’s weak voice could be heard. “I’m never coming back here again…”

“Aww, don’t freak out too much! By the way, check out the bath’s upstairs, it’s Beerus’s favourite!” Pan shouted to them.

“Yeah, sure…” Aang responded. Then they walked out of sight.

Toph still stood in the same spot, staring mindlessly at the fountain, her hand still where it struck the rock. Then she suddenly fell down. Her feet launched up into the air, the only part of her body visible above the surface. She remained like this for a few seconds, before emerging again, floating on a flat rock like on a water board, with the back of her head still partially submerged.

This caused Bulla and Pan to chuckle again.

“Well, I guess she is out of touch with her Water Chakra.” The latter said, still laughing.

“Let me die in silence…” Toph murmured.

“That’s not how you channel it, honey. You are supposed to embrace it, not run away from it.” Bulla was still suppressing a laugh.

“Look who's talking, freaking out so much after seeing a boy in the bathtub…” Katara said. Her tone was stern.

“Point taken.” Bulla responded, still smiling. “Indeed, who am I to talk about boys. It’s you who has a boyfriend after all.” Short pause. “You two must be well in touch with your… sensual side, am I right?”

Katara’s mind went blank for a second or two. And then she felt a lot of heat over her face again.

“No, we are not…” She managed to mutter, before sliding down and hiding her red cheeks (She did not need to see them now to know that they were red). Pan and Bulla roared with laughter, while Toph rotated on her stone board and threw her face in the water, releasing a lot of bubbles.

“Could you lot stop yapping over there, I am trying to concentrate!” voice of Azula could be heard. A short gaze in her direction revealed that she was doing something with her aura.

This just made Pan and Bulla laugh ever harder. Meanwhile, Katara was glad to hear the Fire Nation Princess’s moaning, for the first time in her life.

 

* * *

 

On the following morning the team was getting ready for the journey. Azula, Katara and Aang were already inside the cube. The last person to arrive was Toph, who has remained in her room for an unusually long time. For some reason, she took some extra effort to keep her distance from Sokka as she walked over to the vehicle. He didn’t pay any attention to her though. He was almost entirely focused on the contraption they were about to travel with.

“How does that thing even fly? I don’t see anything that looks like an engine… and what is this wall even made of?” He first gazed at the golden floor on short legs, and then at the glass-like substance that formed the rest of the cube.

“I find it surprising that you are concerned about the cube’s flight capacity. After all, you saw many other entities fly around unaided.” Bulla spoke. She still stood outside the cube, observing Sokka carefully as if she was afraid that he could break the device. “Including myself, Whis and Pan. Why are you so surprised that a magical cube can do that too?”

“A magical cube that is actually a cuboid…” Pan muttered, smiling faintly. She lied on the grass nearby. Nobody paid any attention to her.

“But, you know, you are all people. With magical or divine or whatever powers. And this is a device. A machine. I just assumed that it had some mechanical principle behind it.” Sokka said, touching the board/floor part on its edge.

“From what I know, it utilises the same ability that Whis used to fly us around before. He can empower this cube to move as fast as he does if he wants to.” Bulla said.

“You mean: fly you around before. I wasn’t around yet when you still travelled glued to his arms.” Sokka responded.

“That’s a shame, we had a lot of fun during those trips. Well, at least we got to bond a bit last afternoon.” Pan’s smile grew larger at the last part.

Sokka pretended that he did not realise what she was talking about. He also did his best to not get red again. Unlike everyone else in his group bar Azula. All four were already on the cube, and each of them was in a different corner of it. And only Azula didn’t look like a human tomato.

Fortunately, a distraction was coming their way.

“Oh, speak of the devil. Hello, Mr Whis!” Sokka shouted, a bit louder than he intended.

“Welcome.” The angel responded. “Apologies for the delay, but, as you probably know, today we are headed towards the South Pole of our friend’s world. I prepared some extra snacks, in case there was no time or place for a decent meal.”

“Hey, what do you mean by ‘decent’? Our food is the best in the world!” Sokka said proudly.

“Best at causing nausea, that’s for sure.” Toph moaned loudly from inside the cube, causing Pan to snigger.

“Well, the divided opinions between you lot reinforce me in my decision. Worst case scenario, I will go back to Mr Iroh and come back for you in the afternoon.”

“That will probably be for the best. We would not want to offend our divine mentor by serving him seaweed and frozen fish, would we?” Azula’s voice could be heard. She was turned away from everyone else.

“Oh, hello. The jerk queen is back. I was almost worried that you actually mellowed down.” Katara threw angrily at her.

“I’m perfectly fine, thank you very much. Well, safe for the fact that we are going to a frozen wasteland for no reason at all, but your amusement. That is a little bit annoying.” Azula said.

“Now, now, no need for hostility here. We are headed to the South Pole so that Katara and Sokka may visit their family.” Whis interrupted. “But if any of you do not want to stay there, I can take you with me to Fire Nation Palace instead. Still, I desire to explore the South Pole myself in order to try  the local cuisine, so you will have to wait until I am done.”

“That is alright. I guess I can suffer staying at the snow peasant’s land for 5 minutes. Or however long it takes for you to run away from their so called ‘cuisine’.” Azula spoke.

“You will suffer right now if you don’t shut up!” Katara now looked angry. Sokka wanted to follow suit, but Bulla interrupted:

“I am personally curious to see how people live in such extreme conditions. In our world it is hard to find a place which does not have immediate access to advanced technology.”

Sokka turned his attention to her.

“Hey, it’s not that extreme! I mean, our village is tiny, but our sister tribe in the North live in a big city. Besides, it is easy to build out of ice. I bet that our men have expanded the village again, now that they are back from the war.”

“Master Pakku is probably there too. He went South to help rebuild right after the siege, remember?” Katara spoke.

“They might have help from both the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom as well. I discussed it with my father. Earthen Fire Industries were supposed to help build a refinery there.” Toph turned back towards the group.

“A refinery?” Katara asked.

“Yes. Dad said that the South has rich oil reserves that are worth checking out. He also said that all of the developments in your village have created many  investment opportunities. I don’t know the details, because then I left to go to your little festival with you. And then… you know what happened.” Toph spoke.

“Yeah…” Katara looked down at the floor.

“You can check out the refinery and other possible developments in your village once we arrive there. Which we won’t be able to do if we stay here, talking. Therefore: Sokka, would you mind getting on board?” Whis turned to him.

Sokka was still standing outside, near one of the legs of the cube. He now noticed that Pan and Bulla boarded the cube already.

“Yes, of course.” He said.

He put his foot onto the platform. Walking towards that water-glass made him flinch a bit. He closed his eyes and held his breath before crossing.

“I still feel weird when walking through that thing. Like, what that wall even is? It looks like glass, behaves like water but feels like neither. I don’t even know how to describe this feeling.” He spoke.

As he was talking, the cube was surrounded by light. Soon, they were traversing the familiar tunnel of endless white.

“We have something like this in our world, it is called a force field.” Bulla said. “Essentially, you feel like passing through a giant bubble or something gel-like. As if the air itself was trying to stop you.”

“Oh, oh, oh, that’s exactly what I mean. What is that force field made of?” Sokka said.

“Just out of pure energy generated by a machine.” Bulla said.

“Yeah, but this is not a force field. The cube is magical, so the wall must be divine magic, am I right?” Pan asked.

“Precisely.” Whis responded. “Although, it is not ‘just’ divine magic. This whole vehicle is still a golden platform with a glass box on top. But: the wall is enchanted to let any living creatures through it. It also lets the air through, unless it is missing on the outside, like right now: then the air is held inside. Naturally, there are more spells placed on it, not to mention other parts of the cube, but it would take too long to name them all.”

Sokka looked at him for a few seconds. He had trouble hiding his disappointment.

“So, the explanation to this machine is just magic. Great. Does everything that you guys do work on magic?”

“You would do well to specify some of that ‘everything’. But yes, in general most of the divine contraptions and constructions are conceived and operated with magic.” Whis spoke.

Sokka just stared blindly into the wall for a moment. Katara giggled in the meanwhile.

“You have to forgive my brother, he is more of a science person. He does not believe in anything that he can’t prove. He does like to have a ‘rational hook in reality’.” She made a quoting gesture.

“Well, that should not be a problem here. Magic is real and entirely rational. You can prove any principles related to magic if you have enough knowledge about it. You could ask the Dragon Balls for it or ask Mr Whis to teach you.” Pan spoke.

“Well, I do like learning stuff…” Sokka muttered. Something bugged him after hearing about the Dragon Balls.

“Then you will be happy to know that I plan to include divine magic in your training.” Whis said. “Given that Lord Beerus is adept with it, you will need to learn at least the basics to stand a chance during your fight.”

The team Avatar all gloomed down at the reminder of the incoming battle but Pan’s eyes brightened.

“Oh, that’s so cool! Can we learn some of it too?” She said enthusiastically.

“Naturally. I treat all of you as a single class, so you will participate in those lessons as well.”

“I would curb down that excitement of yours. Divine magic is incredibly complex.” Bulla said.

“And how do you know that?” Pan turned towards her.

“I talked about it with Mr Piccolo. He knew it from Kami, who was the creator of the Dragon Balls and the Guardian of the Earth. And he said that any memory of using divine magic was an absolute pain.”

“Wait, creator of the Dragon Balls? There are people making these?” Toph asked.

“Naturally. They were originally made by a mysterious deity called Dragon God Zalama. Then, a civilisation called Namekians learned how to replicate them. Piccolo and Kami are both Namekians, and the latter knew the arts of the Dragon Clan, which included creating magical dragons.” Pan explained.

“Wait, so can just anyone make themselves a set of magical balls that can grant them any wish? Then why won’t we just make some and wish for Beerus to…” Sokka paused. He realised that he would go too far with this trail of thought. “…forget that our world even exists?”

“I am afraid that creating Dragon Balls is not so easy. And funny that you mention forgetting your world. It is the exact wish that we made on Frieza recently. And yet, there is a high chance that it has failed to work on him: and so it would on Beerus as well, most likely.” Bulla spoke.

“Wait, what? Frieza could still remember us?” Toph woke up at this part. Azula and Katara flinched and gazed more intently at the Saiyan, both looking alarmed.

“Indeed. However, do not worry: we wished for all his men to forget about it as well, and also for all data about you to be erased from their databases. This should hurt him anyway as he will have to recover all of that before launching any expeditions your way. Besides, the most important thing was not that they forgot about your world, but rather that the Galactic King and his Galactic Patrol are now aware of it. And Galactic Patrol just happens to include…”

“…pretty much every powerful Sayian in this universe. Including my grandpa and her dad!” Pan finished, pointing at Bulla with her head. “So yeah, Frieza won’t be coming back any time soon, even if he knows that he should!”

“But still, he could spread the news about it...” Sokka said. “And our planet is a valuable strategic resource to someone like him.”

“Which is exactly why he won’t be eager to tell this information to anyone. He does not like to share strategic resources. Or anything else for that matter.” Bulla said.

“He would share the knowledge if that could help him get his hands on the resource. Naturally, he would not need to be entirely honest about what is located here, but he would still place spies here, in preparation for future invasion.” Azula spoke.

“And that’s why we are deploying countermeasures for both spies and invasions on your world.” Bulla said.

“I hope that they will be more efficient than those that you have on yours. It was your world’s Dragon Balls that gave him that knowledge in the first place. And he used them thanks to a sleeper cell, as I recall.” Azula responded.

“Yes, I am aware of that. However, the reason why his men were hidden on our world is not applicable to yours, as you won’t need to accept refugees from Frieza’s planets. All in all, there is a high chance that you will never have to deal with him again. Just as the majority of the worlds under our protection.” Bulla explained.

“Well, that’s good to hear.” Toph spoke. “We have more than enough trouble with ONE super-powerful alien, we don’t need another. No offence, Mr Whis.” She turned to him.

“None taken.” The angel smiled.

As they talked, Sokka was a bit lost in thought. When he heard a short pause, he barged in:

“By the way: Something bugs me about the Dragon Balls. You said that the dragon might not be capable of making Frieza forget about our existence. However, it was able to somehow tell what was discussed in the past on another planet. Like, how is erasing memory harder than spying on someone in the past? How do those wishes even work? What are the limits of them?” The more Sokka spoke, the more confused he felt.

“Well...” Bulla responded. “I cannot claim to know how the wish-granting power works exactly. Perhaps Mr Whis can:” She bowed shortly to the angel. “But that would probably take A LOT of time to explain.”

“Well, if you wanted to understand any of it, then yes, it would.” Whis spoke.

“Exactly. Still, what I do know is that a magical dragon can fulfil many weird requests that most people would consider ridiculous. Pulling information from the past is one such example. However, these wishes still have limitations, at least in the case of the lesser dragons. One of such restrictions is that they cannot manipulate sentient beings against their will if they are stronger than the ball’s creator. And Frieza is definitely stronger than the current Guardian of Earth.” Bulla went on.

“Wait, you mean that Frieza would have to agree to forget our world?” Aang asked.

“That is most likely the case. People affected by the wish will feel it and will be able to resist it if they can use Chi. Something like this happened to Pan’s grandpa, for example.” Bulla said.

“Yep. He was wished to be brought back to our world once, and he refused, because he wanted to keep training. Just as he always does.” Pan’s mood suddenly soured.

“Sounds like him, indeed.” Bulla said. “But no matter. This logic applies to any wish that is about to change a person’s state. Be it kill them, make them sick or forget something.”

“Well, that’s a few potential plans out of the window.” Azula spoke.

“Yes, I find it kind of disappointing as well. However, Dragon Balls can do pretty much anything else. Reviving the dead, creating planets, creating life, healing diseases… all you can think of. There are more rules limiting their use, but most of the time your only barrier is your imagination.” Bulla concluded.

“Wow…” Sokka exclaimed. “Well, we can do reviving the dead and healing diseases with bending, but… planets…”

“You can revive the dead?” Bulla squinted at him. “How is that possible?”

“Well, you saw Katara heal Toph with waterbending.” Sokka spoke. “When a strong enough bender does that, they can even heal mortal injuries. And Katara once healed Aang from a lightning strike, courtesy of the princess over there…” He pointed at Azula.

“You are welcome.” She giggled, causing Katara to growl at her.

“...that pretty much killed him. It was over an hour or so after he was hit, she had to use a special magical spirity water to get him back, but she did it.”

“I see.” Bulla murmured. “And now she could probably perform such a feat without magical artefacts. Still, as useful as it sounds, the Dragon Balls can still do more. They can bring someone back even if their body is not around anymore, a long, long time after they are gone.”

Both Katara and Sokka paused. They stared at Bulla intently. Toph, Azula and Aang also concentrated on her.

“Umm, what is it?” Bulla asked, appearing a bit perplexed.

“How long we are talking?” Sokka spoke, waking up. A wild idea came over to his head. He was more than certain that Katara thought the same thing.

“There is no strict limit to that. Frieza was brought back was about 15 years after his death, for example. However, you cannot do it twice, nor bring back someone who died of natural causes, such as disease.”

“Really? I thought that those restrictions have been lifted, along with the one year limit…” Pan spoke.

“Well, it does not matter, really. I think that the Namekian dragon can do any kind of dead. And even if it cannot, Whis can. Right, Mr Whis?”

“Oh, well, yes.” The angel responded. “I have done so in the past.” He smiled.

“There you go. And why do you ask?” Bulla asked.

Sokka breathed heavily. He felt as if he was afraid to ask the question, even though everything suggested that the answer will be yes.

“Could my mother be brought back?” Katara uttered. Her voice was shaky. He silently thanked her for it. Everyone turned towards her. Bulla’s and Pan’s faces brightened up in realisation.

“Well, yes, naturally. Albeit, all available Dragon Balls have been used up recently, so it would take at least 4 months...”

“Oh, drop it, Bulla. Mr Whis is right here, so none of that matters. And he will be happy to help you with your mom, right?” She looked at the angel.

“Well, yes, naturally. Still, I would reconsider…”

“How is it even possible? I mean…” Aang asked, sounding troubled.

“Well, they did say that the dragons can create life, not mentioning planets.” Toph commented. “And so does Mr Whis, for that matter, we both saw him redo those planets Bulla blew up.”

“Then it stands to reason that a new body can be created for a dead person.” Azula commented.

“But what about the soul? I thought that dead people go to the Spirit World after they die.” Aang spoke.

“They could in your world. Souls can be manipulated with divine magic, just as everything else can. However, dead are supposed to go to a realm usually called the Other World, or afterlife. I could find out whether or not that is the case with your people.” Whis said. “Still, I believe that it will be perfectly possible to find a soul and pull it back to a new body from whichever dimension they are in.”

Sokka was completely dumbfounded.

“So, yet another mystical dimension besides Spirit World. Really? As all of that was not crazy enough. Next you will tell me that stars are magical pixie dust!”

“They aren’t. But you could make ones like these with the Dragon Balls.” Pan smiled.

“Don’t hurt my brain even more….” Sokka moaned.

“No promises. Well then, would you like to bring your mom back immediately?” Bulla spoke to Katara.

Katara was not able to utter a word. She just stood there in silence, her eyes wet. Sokka was not surprised. Their entire world was flipped on its head. He felt a bit woozy himself.

“Let’s wait at the very least until we leave that cube.” Aang said. He walked over to Katara and embraced her. “I think that they will need some time to digest that.”

“That’s probably for the best. As I wanted to say, a decision to resurrect someone long dead should not be carried out hastily.” Whis said. “We will discuss it later. We are about to land.”

 

* * *

 

The moment he finished talking, the cube have rotated, now appearing to be falling down the white tunnel. After a few seconds, the whiteness was replaced by a bluish hue of the morning sky.

The cube did not touch down immediately. Whis gestured at the wall, and they started moving sideways.

Katara was too braindead to wonder why. She stood near the edge of the cube, staring at the white plains below them, her mind focused squarely on one thing. Something she has accepted to be impossible.

“Seeing my mom again…” She muttered. Aang closed in a bit to her, but no one else reacted, either not being able to hear her, or choosing not to respond. “I… I won’t even know what to say to her. So many things have changed. The war is over, the Avatar has returned, Beerus and his challenge…” She paused here. “Funny, I don’t even feel that scared of it anymore. As if just knowing that my mom can come back was giving me strength…”

“It probably does.” Aang muttered to her in response. “Being with the people you love always makes you stronger. Just as being with you makes me stronger.”

She smiled, and hugged him tighter.

They both looked in the same direction for a good while. However, Aang must have been more attentive to their surroundings than her, as he pointed at something and spoke:

“Guys, maybe my memory is hazy, but I do not remember all of that being there.”

Everyone on board followed his gesture, and looked at what was directly below the cube.

“Hmm, that village is not as small as I thought it would be.” Bulla commented. “It is more resembling of a town.”

“My, my. It almost looks like civilisation. I might not be completely disappointed after all.” Azula spoke.

“And those are some neat buildings too! How do you guys prevent them from melting?” Pan spoke. She then put her head through the wall and looked directly downwards.

“Hey, be careful! What if you fall off!?” Katara woke up. To an extent.

“Then she will be the first to land in the village. My dear, I was under the impression that you understood the scope of our powers.” Bulla spoke.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry. I guess that my normal human instincts are still kicking in.” Katara responded.

“Well, most of the time, they should. Just on a different scale and in a different context. Some things are not dangerous to you anymore, but there are new…” Whis spoke. He was interrupted by Pan.

“Ha! Look at all of those guys freaking out down there. Hey, people, we come in peace!” She first turned towards the team, and then back downwards, shouting.

“Ah, yes, I imagine that we look a bit unusual to our tribe, you know, a flying space cube...” Sokka said. He also moved towards the edge and looked through the wall. “Jeez, that’s still weird.”

Katara moved closer as well. She could in fact see the street below them without sticking her head out.

“It’s hard to blame them for freaking out. After all, they probably never even saw a flying ship before.” Azula said condescendingly.

“Our warriors saw your airships alright, in case you forgot.” Sokka barked at her.

“I guess I did. They were not very interesting opponents.” She responded.

Sokka put his head back inside and turned towards her angrily, but then Aang spoke:

“The villagers also saw me and Appa back then when I first arrived. Although, now that I mention it, I don’t think that...” He paused here, suddenly looking concerned. “Oh, spirits, Appa! I haven’t seen him in two days! I need to check on him. Do you guys know where he…”

“Easy, Aang, he is in the Fire Nation. Under the watchful eye of Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors. And, before you ask, Momo is with them too.” Sokka spoke. He then moved back to sticking his head out. He also moved around the edges.

“And who is Appa?” Pan asked.

“My flying bison. We used to travel all over the world on his back, until you guys came around.”

“Oh, that’s sounds cool! Maybe you could give us a ride?” Pan got excited.

“Hah, sure, why not. I am sure that Appa will be happy to meet you.” Aang said.

“Guys, check this place out!” Sokka pointed at some building on the other side of the cube.

Everyone turned towards him. They didn’t need to move far though, as the building in question was substantially large.

“The tribesmen are lifting up, from what I see. That looks like a town hall.” Azula spoke.

“You should see what the northerners can build, maybe you would shut up.” Sokka said to her. “Speaking of the North, it does kind of look like the Northern Water Tribe architecture, don’t you think, Katara?” He turned to his sister.

After a second or two, she indeed found a connection. “Yes, it kind of does.”

“By the way, where are we going? We are near the edge of the town already.” Toph spoke.

“We will land some distance away from it. We have caused a bit of a commotion already, and it would be better to keep it out of the city.” Whis said.

“Fair enough.” Toph said.

They flew at a leisurely pace over the streets and roofs of the town. Katara could not help but think that it looked like the middle district of the North’s capital city. In the streets below there was indeed a fair bunch of people following the cube.

Katara paid closer attention and noticed that many buildings were still mid-construction. Scaffoldings and cranes were a common sight. There were also a few constructs outside the main city that looked different than all the others. They resembled the factories that Katara saw at Cranefish Town. They were mostly unfinished, albeit not much work was left on them.

Finally, they approached the snowfields outside of town. After gaining some distance from the buildings, as well as from the people following them, they have landed.

“Now, hurry up a bit if I may ask. I will hide the cube back in my staff.” Whis said.

The entire group quickly left the vehicle. When everyone was out, the angel gestured at the vessel, while summoning his staff with his other arm. Cube was surrounded by green-white light, and then it shrunk rapidly, whilst flying towards the staff’s crystal. Soon, it was gone inside it.

Right in time for the arrival of the crowd. It was mostly comprised of various Southern Water Tribe members. Children amazed by the weird vessel, who were now looking around for it in confusion, their worried parents who were mostly looking at them, all surrounded by a squad of warriors. Mostly from the South, but Katara noticed a few northern waterbenders among them. All southern non-benders had unsheathed weapons. One of those who walked in the front, old but tough looking man with a fancy uniform, grey beard, no moustache, big nose and small eyes, moved towards them and shouted:

“Stop! Whoever you are, identify yours…”

He looked firm and square at Katara. Then, his gaze moved shortly to her brother, and then over Toph and Aang. His eyes were warming up as he looked. Only to then land at Azula and widen. His expression shifted from growing smile into a frown.

He then refocused on Katara and Sokka and softened up, before speaking:

“Katara! Sokka! It’s good to see you! Hell, you gave us a bit of a scare, arriving in that weird contraption!”

A few of the people behind him must have heard their names, as they started repeating them while waving at the Water Tribe siblings. Katara responded to some of the calls, and so did Sokka, but they were mostly focused on the man in front of them. She was not sure who he was, albeit she felt like she saw him before.

“I remember you! You were one of dad’s warriors during the war!” Sokka said enthusiastically.

“Ha! Exactly. My name’s Gilak. I travelled with your father and the other guys all over the world, fighting the Fire Nation together. Now, I am the captain of the guards. And speaking of Fire Nation…” His expression soured again. “Why is the Fire Nation princess with you?”

This put a stop to the enthusiastic shouts in the background, with the onlookers trying to spot Azula. The firebender herself did not pay any attention to them, looking at Gilak instead.

“We keep an eye on her. She aids us with a certain... issue, in exchange for partial freedom.” Sokka said.

“That is correct, at least if you can call being watched all day and night ‘freedom’.” Azula spoke condescendingly.

“If you would rather return to the asylum, I will gladly take you there.” Katara barked at her.

“I would rather not. I guess I have to be happy with what I got.” Azula moaned.

“Then be happy in silence. Sorry, Gilak, but she badmouths everything and everyone whenever she can.” Katara turned to him.

“I guess I can live with that. As long as you keep her at a safe distance from me.” Gilak said, some anger and resentment present in his tone. “And may I know who are your companions? I know Toph and Aang already.” The two waved at him. Aang’s name incurred some reaction from the people behind him, apparently happy to see the Avatar. “But I have never seen any of you.” He now turned towards the three aliens.

“Yeah! I want to know who the big blue guy is!” Some kid in the background shouted. Whis giggled a bit.

“Where did the weird box go?” Another one joined in.

“Shhh, honey.” The mother of the latter one spoke to him.

“Those are our new friends. The gentleman here is called Whis, while those two are Pan and Bulla.” Sokka said. Each of the mentioned people waved shortly and greeted the crowd. “And as of why they are here, well, it’s a complicated issue. We will need to discuss it with our dad first.”

“Of course. I will take you straight to him. May I suggest though that we keep Princess Azula away from this discussion?” Gilak asked.

“Unfortunately, she knows everything that there is to know about that issue. But yes, she will wait outside anyway.” Katara said.

“So am I supposed to freeze in the snow now, as a part of that so called ‘partial freedom’? What a stunning display of hospitality.” Azula moaned.

“Don’t speak of hospitality, you little Fire Nation monster. If it were up to me, I would greet you with a blade to the heart.” Gilak lost his nerve. It was clear before that her presence unnerved him, but now he seemed to burst.

“Watch what you wish for, old fossil. Or it might get right back at you.” Azula hissed back at him. Most of the people in the back got silent, with some of them booing at her. All of the soldiers concentrated on her tightly.

“Easy there, we don’t need another war right now.” Sokka quickly got between the two. “Azula will just go with Mr Whis someplace else. Do you perhaps have restaurants in town, now that it is so big?”

“Yes, our northern brothers were kind enough to build a few.” Gilak spoke. His tone was weird, as if he was suppressing something.

“Oh, that’s marvellous. I was hoping to taste some of the tribe’s cuisine, the kids here recommended it many times.” Whis spoke. “Let’s go, miss Azula.” He then turned to Sokka. “Will you join us later?”

“Yes, we will. We will bring our father with us as well.” Sokka answered.

“Very well. Lirin.” Gilak spoke to a female soldier behind him. “Please escort Mr Whis and his esteemed companion…” Vitriol in his voice was intense at this part. “To the best restaurant in town.”

“Yes, sir.” She turned towards Whis and Azula and spoke: “This way, please.” while gesturing at one of the alleys of the town. All three started walking away, Azula shooting one last menacing glare at Gilak.

“We will go with them.” Bulla suddenly spoke. “From what I understand, you are up for a family reunion. I suppose that you will want to keep it private.”

“You guys are welcome to come with us. We will introduce you to our dad.” Katara said.

“Naah. We heard the story that is about to be told a bunch of times already. We will meet your dad once you are done with that.” Pan said. “So yeah, see you later!”

“I’m with them. For the same reasons.” Toph said. “Also, I know your dad already and I am hungry as hell. Have fun!”

They all followed Whis’s group. The kids that glared at Whis and Azula followed with them, causing most of the crowd to disperse. Only a few soldiers with Gilak remained, but he gestured them to follow the onlookers.

“Hey, do you want me to go with them as well?” Aang asked. “You know, it’s your dad, and you haven’t seen him in a while…”

“Don’t be silly. You are a part of the family now.” Katara said, smiling. She then took his arm and turned to Gilak. “Lead the way, sir, we have waited long enough!”

“Ummm, okay. This way.” Gilak responded and started walking towards the town. Katara, Aang and Sokka followed him. They saw the rest of the group in the distance, but soon they entered a different alley and lost the sight of them.

They walked through the town, admiring the new buildings. Well, at the very least Sokka and Aang were admiring them.

“What happened to our old village, by the way?” Katara asked.

“Torn down. All of these new buildings have replaced it. For better or worse.” Gilak said.

“Why worse? They look amazing! Much better than our old igloos!” Sokka said.

When he spoke, she recalled the sight of their old village. Then, she realised that this new town felt kind of alien to her.

“Meh, I am not sure, they are a bit…” Katara started.

“Too much like the North? My point exactly.” Gilak said.

“I was going to say ‘foreign’, but there is something to that.” She spoke.

“Why it would that be a bad thing? I mean, being too much like the North? They are a Water Tribe too.” Sokka spoke.

“Yes, but they are also at the other end of the world. We always had a separate culture and traditions. And now, well, it seems that they are blending together…”

He paused shortly. Katara did see a point to it to what he said, and given that Sokka did not protest either, he probably did too. Aang also didn’t speak, appearing lost in thought.

“Unfortunately, we did not have anyone skilled in construction of anything but igloos. And after some discussions, we have agreed with your father to ask the northern builders for help: especially given that they had already started multiple projects. I asked them to at least try to make the buildings stand out a bit though, you know, so they were a bit more southern, but nobody listened to me.” All spoken with a slightly irritated tone.

“Don’t worry, Gilak, with me around we will figure something out.” Sokka said. “Still, I take a large house over a tiny igloo any time. It’s good that we have those buildings in the first place, am I right?”

“Well, there is that. At least now we finally have comfortable quarters for our guards. Or are able to form the town guard in the first place.” Gilak said. He then turned towards the next building they were approaching. “And this is your dad’s place. Welcome to the town hall.”

“Ha! I saw this one from above! It looks so cool!” Sokka gawked over it. They soon approached the front door.

“Yeah, it’s hard not to notice it.” Gilak muttered. “Nor it will be hard to notice who built it. Eh, enough of my complaining. Your dad should be in his office.”

“Wait, he has an office?” Sokka asked.

“Yup, as expected from the Head Chieftain of the Southern Water Tribe.” Gilak said. This time, a small smile appeared on his face. “Come on, don’t keep him waiting!”

They have entered the building together.

“A head chieftain… wow…” Sokka muttered. “So now I really am a Water Tribe Prince. Ha! I wish Yue could see it!”

“Ha ha, don’t get too ahead of yourself, young man. The Head Chieftain is an elected position.” Gilak said, smiling.

“Thank the spirits. I would rather not be a princess myself…” Katara muttered.

“Why not? You definitely look the part.” Aang said, smiling and blushing a bit.

Katara blushed too. “Thank you, sweetie, but still: joining the little club of Azula and Bulla? No thank you, I would rather enlist in the Frieza Force.”

Gilak’s eyes widened a little bit at these remarks, but he did not say anything.

“Too bad. The princess club could definitely use someone kind and sweet.” Aang said.

“Awww…” Katara wanted to say something kind back to him, but her brother interrupted her.

“Okay, stop oogling about. We are here!”

Indeed, he stopped in front of a door. A few voices could be heard from behind it.

“I will leave you to it, kids. Once you are ready, come meet me in an office on the left of the main entrance. I will show you the way to that restaurant.” Gilak said.

With these words, he has turned around and walked away. Katara did not hesitate. She moved past Sokka and opened the door. She collider with her brother, who tried to do the same exact thing as her.

This resulted with both of them colliding and stumbling against each other and almost falling over into the room. Aang just slid inside after them. They managed to regain their footing, before taking a look around. The label ‘office’ really suited it, as it contained a leather sofa and two leather chairs on opposite sides of a small glass table as well as a few cabinets by the walls and a huge desk with another chair behind it.

There were three people in the room. Katara did not know the first two: a lady in her mid-thirties with short brown hair, and a black-haired guy with big round glasses; but she definitely recognised the last one.

Her father. Hakoda.

He was the first one to speak, the moment after they barged in through the door.

“One second, we are almost done…” He was staring at some papers in front of him. The two strangers looked at the newcomers instead. A spark could be visible in both of their eyes, but Katara did not really pay attention to them.

She instead uttered: “Dad?”.

Hakoda lifted his head up from the paperwork.

“Katara? Sokka?” He said, standing up from his chair.

The two kids have moved over (practically jumped) to their father, embracing him.

“It’s so good to see you, I missed you so much…” Katara said.

“I missed you too, kids...”

“You just wouldn’t believe how many things have happened since we were gone!” Sokka said enthusiastically.

“I can imagine. Rebuilding the world alongside the Avatar must have been a daunting task. And speak of the devil: Welcome Aang.” He turned towards the airbender.

“Hello, Hakoda-sir!” He responded.

“It’s not just that! Oh, man, I can’t wait to tell you all about it! Did you know that aliens have visited Earth and gave us superpowers?” Sokka was beaming.

“Umm, what?” Hakoda got confused immediately.

“Sokka! We can’t just speak of it in front of everyone!” Katara barked at him.

“What’s the matter? Everyone outside saw Whis’s cube. And everyone knows that we get new powers. Zuko was preparing a statement to the nation while you were gone.”

“Yeah, to the Fire Nation, because they saw Bulla blasting the palace with aura! Besides, what does he even want to put in that statement?”

Hakoda and his two guests were all staring at the two siblings with their eyes wide open. Meanwhile, Aang just stood there, visibly suppressing a laugh.

“That alien gods have visited us to grant us special powers and train us in using them in order to defend our world from many dangers lurking in the dark corners of the universe. And the fact that Azula joined us made his job a lot easier, because he can now tell them that all nations get a representative. He spoke about it with me while you were gone, and he said that last part to Azula at the last dinner.”

“Okay, kids, calm down. I basically did not understand anything that you just said. Can we perhaps start from the beginning?” Hakoda interrupted them. Aang laughed out loud at this part, while the two strangers smiled uncomfortably.

“Ah, yes, sure. Sorry, dad. Can we perhaps talk in private?” Katara asked, taking a glance at the two confused strangers.

“Well, if you were talking about something that is supposed to publicly known anyway, then they can stay. Sorry, I forgot to introduce you.” Hakoda moved away from his kids and gestured at the strangers. “This is Malina,” He pointed at the lady. “And this is Maliq. They are our guests from the Northern Water Tribe, who are helping us rebuild and expand our tribe.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” The lady called Malina spoke. “We have heard so much about you.”

“Wait, so all of those cool new buildings are your doing? That’s awesome!” Sokka said enthusiastically. “What else you got planned?”

“A lot of things!” The man named Maliq spoke, returning Sokka’s enthusiasm. “A palace, a refinery, new harbour, a lighthouse. I have plans for all of them right here!” He pointed at a briefcase lying at the glass table.

“Okay, before the two of you fly away into construction plans, we were supposed to explain something to our father.” Katara spoke loudly to the two. Then she lowered her tone to a more apologetic one, facing Malina. “And I am really sorry, it’s really nice to meet you too, but we have to speak privately. We can’t tell you everything that we have to tell him.”

“It’s alright, my dear, I understand that. You need some time alone with your dad. We will just come back later.” The lady responded with a soft tone.

“Oh, you can go and meet our new alien friends instead! They are at the best restaurant in town, whichever that is… You will recognise it anyway and there will be a crowd in front of it!” Sokka spoke.

“I’m sure we will find it.” Malina responded, smiling. “Anyway, see you later. We have much to discuss with you about the future of the Southern Water Tribe.”

“It’s been an honour, all of you. Sokka, Katara, Avatar Aang.” Maliq spoke, bowing shortly before each person he mentioned.

“The honour is all mine” Aang responded, making a bow in return.

“Okay, Maliq, you can play the fanboy later. Let’s go.” Malina took his arm and almost pulled him towards the door.

“A fanboy? Wow, I didn’t know we have those already!” Sokka said, smiling widely. Before Maliq managed to say anything, he was dragged outside the room.

“Well, you are renowned heroes and celebrities around the world now.” Hakoda said, smiling. “And, from what little I understood from that… speech of yours, involved in some new trouble? With, eh, aliens?”

“Yeah, some of them are jerks. But hey, we met some nice ones as well! And look at what I can do now!” Sokka said. He then moved away to the middle of the room and raised both of his hands in front of him. For a second nothing happened, and then, suddenly, a small fire orb has exploded between them.

“Whoah!” His father flinched.

“Sokka! Stop it! You will set something on fire!” Katara reacted. They did not need to burn down their dad’s office, probably right after it has been built.

“Is he firebending?” Hakoda’s eyes were widened again.

“Yeah! Isn’t that amazing? I can bend other elements as well!” Sokka almost screamed. He still kept the flame going.

“Sokka! Don’t confuse dad even further!” Katara shouted at him. “Come on, Aang, help me explain. And you, Mr Firebender, calm down a bit, pretty please.”

“Okay, okay, I get the idea. Step by step.” Sokka said. He dispersed the fire, and then walked over to the sofa, taking a seat. Katara moved to their confused father, took his hand and led him there too. Aang took one of the chairs.

“Okay, so let’s start from the beginning.” Sokka begun to speak.

“Finally.” Katara muttered.

 

* * *

 

“Wow. That is quite a lot to take in.” Hakoda said. “Everyone bending all elements, aliens attacking, an ancient god uncovering a terrible secret on our world…”

“I know, right? But we are getting the hang of it already.” Sokka said.

“I just hope that this Fire Nation princess won’t cause any more trouble. I remember her being quite a vicious person.” He stroked his chin.

“She still is, but don’t worry. We have her under control.” Sokka spoke.

“I hope that it is true...” Hakoda responded. After a short pause, he went on. “Well then: as much as it pains me to say it, there is not much that I can offer you in terms of help. But if you ever need some rest and some peace of mind, you can always come back here. I will make sure that both you and your friends have everything you need at all times.”

“Thank you, dad. Hey, Aang, now we get two palaces as hideouts!” Sokka said enthusiastically.

“Haha, you would if we had it around. But the construction did not start yet.” Hakoda said.

“Oh, I see.” Sokka’s mood dropped slightly. “So how long do you think it will be before you get to it?”

“Hopefully soon. We will need some extra aid from other nations though. We will be discussing this with Fire Lord Zuko and Earth King Kuei in a few weeks. I have already sent appropriate messages to them both and they are both interested in further cooperation with our tribe.” Hakoda explained.

“That’s amazing! I am sure that Zuko will more than happy to help us out. Oh, by the way, if you are in need of some extra tools, we can get you a few fancy ones from the spaceship!” Now Sokka seemed even more enthusiastic than before.

“Hah, I will never complain about more tools. Well, as long as they come with an instruction manual. They are ‘alien’ to us after all.”

They both laughed. Aang smiled as well, sneakily rolling his eyes. Katara in the meanwhile just sat there without reacting at all.

“Oh, come on, Katara, it was not that bad!” Sokka said.

“Hey, honey, you were silent for the past few minutes.” Hakoda said. “Is everything alright?”

“Uh?” She appeared as if she woke up from a trance. “Uh, yeah, that joke was terrible. Sorry, I spaced out. Hey, can I finally get down to the big news?”

“Wow, something bigger than gods and aliens? I am scared already.” Hakoda smiled.

“Nah, it’s just something that she has been flipping over this entire time. And I can’t blame her, I feel the same way.” Sokka spoke.

“So, first.” Katara stood up from the sofa, moved over to Aang and lifted him up from his chair by hand. “Dad, Aang and I are now dating!”

Aang smiled uncomfortably here. Meanwhile, both Sokka’s and Hakoda’s faces turned completely blank. Then, Sokka executed a facepalm and Hakoda laughed out loud.

“Wait, what’s wrong?” Aang asked, suddenly feeling unnerved.

“Oh, sorry Aang. Yes, I’m very happy for you two, welcome to the family. It’s just… I kind of already knew that.”

Now it was time for Aang’s face to turn blank. “Oh. Yes, sure...”

“Wait, how did you know?” Katara squinted at them.

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe he noticed something when you were oogling all over the place?” Sokka said.

“In all honesty, it was obvious whenever I saw the two of you together.” Hakoda spoke. “Both when hiding on the Fire Nation ship as well as later in the Western Air Temple. I just assumed that you two were a couple.”

“Ummm, but we weren’t dating back then…?” Katara still appeared confused. Aang just stood there, staring to the side and whistling.

“Yeah, now that I think of it, you pretty much were, just without the oogies. Whatever. Can you get to the really important news now?” Sokka spoke.

“Wait, so you still have something more important to say? Now I am hoping that it’s another false alarm. You know, between aliens and gods, I don’t even know what to think.” Hakoda smiled.

“Ah, who cares about those. And don’t worry, you are really going to love this one.”

Something struck Aang here. He looked at Sokka. His face resembled what Aang himself felt: consternation. ‘Who cares about those’ completely didn’t fit a person who almost never stopped thinking and talking about these things beforehand. Aang had a weird and faint feeling of something odd when looking at her, but he was not able to name it yet.

Katara paused shortly, before continuing.

“We can bring mom back!”

Hakoda’s expression was completely blank again. Except for his eyes: they were now the size of coins. To say that he was dumbfounded was an understatement. He managed to wake up from it for a moment though:

“I’m not sure I understand. Bring back? What do you mean by that?”

“Resurrect her! Bring her back from the dead! You remember those Dragon Balls we mentioned, which Frieza used to learn our secret and then which we used to make him forget it? They can bring dead people back to life!”

She practically exploded with chatter here. Now Aang somehow understood her attitude from before. She appeared more enthusiastic now, than at any prior point during the entire time he knew her so far. Whatever weird feeling she was giving him was now gone.

Hakoda looked as if he was struck by something heavy. Aang even thought for a moment that he was spinning a little.

“Actually, from what I heard, we would have to wait at least a couple months to do that with the Dragon Balls. But it doesn’t matter, because Whis can do it immediately.” Sokka spoke. He was smiling, the confusion having left his face for now.

Hakoda hunched down, rubbing his forehead with one of his palms. “No, that’s impossible… After all these years? How is that even…”

“I’m certain it is, dad. I mean, Whis can restore entire planets from destruction, so why not people?” Sokka said.

“And we are his students, so I am sure that he will be happy to help us.” Katara added.

Hakoda still did not say anything. Now he was staring blindly into the room.

“Dad, is everything alright?” Katara said with a worried tone.

“Give him a moment, it is quite a lot to take in.” Sokka said. “Heh, even I flipped out when I learned.”

“Yeah…” Hakoda finally made a sound. Both kids have looked at him, clearly anticipating more. “Can you give me some time alone? I need to think.”

“Of course. Come on, Sokka, Aang, let’s go to that restaurant.” Katara said. “We will check on you later, dad.”

“Yeah, sure…” He said.

With these words, they left the room. Hakoda did not move from his spot.

They walked back through the familiar corridor.

“I just hope that the place is still standing… Just thinking about keeping Azula, Toph, Pan and Bulla in a closed room makes me worried.” Katara murmured.

“Meh, we would hear something if they started to mess around. Besides, Whis is there.” Sokka said.

“I haven’t felt any changes in their Chi since we arrived. They seem to be alright.” Aang spoke.

“Good, that’s good to hear.” Katara let out a small grunt of relief.

Soon, they have found the office mentioned to them earlier. The door to it was partially open. It was similar to Hakoda’s, just smaller. Gilak was writing something down at his desk.

Upon noticing them, he left the paperwork alone and stood up, facing them.

“Hello back, kids. How did it go with your old man?”

“Good, very good!” Katara answered cheerfully. “He just needs some time alone to process the news.”

“Well, hope it’s good news.” Gilak said.

“Yes, they are.” Sokka said.

“Good. And hell: even better that he needs a moment alone. Finally, a reason to keep those weasels out of the way. Well then, let us go to that restaurant.”

With these words, he walked outside and then into one of the alleys. The trio followed him.

Aang assumed that by ‘weasels’ he meant Maliq and Malina, but he preferred to ask:

“Weasels? Who are you talking about?”

“Hah, weren’t they with your father in his office when you came over? A middle aged woman and her plump brother?” Gilak asked.

“Yes, we met them…” Aang responded with a bit of a shy tone. “You don’t appear to like these two. What happened?” He added, with slightly stronger voice. Katara and Sokka paid closer attention as well.

“They have been glued to your father ever since they came about and started shoving their Northern stuff all over the place. I told him many times to watch out for them, that we cannot trust them just like that, and that they should not be allowed in on literally every official talks we ever did… but hey, maybe it’s just me being an old geezer with too many bad memories…” As he spoke, his tone lowered from anger into tiredness.

All three kids looked at him for a moment. Sokka was the first to ask:

“Did they ever do anything suspicious? You know, besides ‘gluing’ themselves to dad?”

“Hah! I would rather ask if they ever did anything unsuspicious! Those thug-looking construction workers, those fences and signposts all over the place… I heard that those bastards scared some of our kids when chasing them away from the sites… Not mentioning that this twerp Maliq keeps a briefcase on him at all times, supposedly containing all of their construction and strategic plans towards the South.” As he spoke, his anger seemed to grow.

“Yeah, we saw it. He said something about a palace, a harbour and a refinery being built, and that he wanted to show me more plans.” Sokka said, scratching his head.

“Already trying to smear himself up your butt, of course.” Gilak grunted. “Sure, have a look at what he shows you. And then ask if you could see the rest of the briefcase. I can bet that he will tell you to piss off, just as he told me and everyone else who ever asked. But hey, your dad does not care, because he does not want to act ‘pushy’, or whatever. Just as this bitch Malina probably told him to when she was all over him.”

This expression gave Katara a pause. She looked at the old man in confusion and asked: “Wait, what do you mean: all over him?” Aang felt something unpleasant when looking at her: for some reason it was the same feeling as when she dismissed the importance of Beerus’s challenge.

“Ah, sorry, young lady. I am not really a person to talk about it with...” Gilak grunted.

“Wait, did you mean that Malina was trying to hit on our dad?” Sokka asked.

Aang felt a gush of fear come over him. Out of everything that Katara could hear right now, this was probably the worst thing. Or very close.

“Okay, maybe I said a little bit too much for what I know.” Gilak now appeared a bit unnerved. “Still, they have been spending an awful lot of time together. With or without the twerp’s company. And okay, naturally, if it had been anyone else, I wouldn’t say a word. Hell, I would even encourage your old man to get some action, you know too well how long he has been alone, but this one… no, thanks, I will pass. Get us someone not involved in some shady business.”

He then had a short look at Katara’s face. And then let out a big grunt. Aang followed his gaze. Now that feeling was strong enough to give him some connotation. In both cases Katara was extremely determined to the point of obsession. Positively determined and excited in the first one, but now it more so resembled the time when she was about to go after her mother’s murderer.

“Yeah, I can see that I shouldn’t have talked about it. I don’t want to make any accusations.” Gilak said, looking away.

“Okay, okay, calm down everyone, let’s not jump to ‘accusations’ already. We will just go to them, have a chat, and find out what they are up to.” Sokka said, his tone also suggesting nervousness. Katara remained silent.

“Yeah, I agree.” Aang quickly said. “Maybe Maliq is just a jerk and he doesn’t like people messing up his papers. Let’s just take it easy, okay? I mean, the northerners are you sister tribe, I can’t imagine them doing you any harm.” He spoke directly to Katara, grabbing her hand.

“Sister tribe? Ha, that’s a good one. What kind of a sister tribe lets their kin get slaughtered while hiding behind their fancy ice walls? I would sooner believe that the Fire Lord is our closest ally now.” Gilak grunted again.

“I mean, he kind of is…” Aang said, with a bit insecure tone.

“Yeah, crazy times these are…” Gilak said. “Whatever. I have talked too much already. You kids go to your friends.”

They have arrived in a street that was a bit wider than the others they passed through.

“The restaurant they went to is over there.” He pointed at a large building few alleys away. Nobody was seen near it. Aang thought that the crowd must have already given up on trying to spot Whis.

“Yeah.” Katara responded. Her tone was quite deadpan, as she looked at the snow.

Gilak started walking away, but he turned towards them one more time and said:

“If you kids need anything, I will be back in my office.”

“Of course. Take care!” Sokka said.

They went on their separate ways.

An uncomfortable silence followed for a couple seconds. Neither Aang nor Sokka wanted to stir the buzzard wasps’ nest. Katara’s expression was stern, and she still stared at the snow. Aang assumed that she tried to process everything that she heard so far.

Sokka was the first to talk:

“Look, Katara, I know that you would prefer for your dad to get back with your mom again, but… he could not have expected that she can come back. None of us could. So…”

“So what? Dad would not have fallen for someone so shady. Even if she tried to date him, he can just break up with her.”

Her tone was sharp and her gaze stern, as she looked at her brother.

“Um… and what if he did fall for her? And, ummm, we don’t know if she is shady at all.” Sokka spoke. He took a second or two to respond, clearly hesitating.

“Fawning over a leader of a nation right after his election? Yeah, sure, not shady at all. Whatever. I don’t care what she does. Dad will come back to mom. I’m certain of it.”

She spoke with a typical discussion ending tone. She then started to walk again. Aang did not feel like trying to challenge her conclusion.

“I’m just trying to say that in the end it’s up to him. What if he does want that lady around? I just… I just want you to consider that for a moment...” Sokka apparently did not share his sentiment.

Katara stopped and looked at her brother. Aang was happy that he was not the target of that gaze.

“I know it’s up to him, and I know he will choose mom.” She paused for a moment. “Can we get going?”

“Yes, sure…” Aang spared Sokka the trouble of responding. He moved over to Katara and took her arm, leading her towards the restaurant.

 

* * *

 

Toph was positively surprised for once.

Firstly, she expected the food provided to be terrible. But it was the exact opposite: the restaurant offered a wide variety of dishes from all over the northern hemisphere of the world, not just the North Pole. Secondly, she expected the talking to be boring, with Whis, Malina and Maliq being the dominant players gawking over new kinds of disgusting Water Tribe food, but again, the dishes served were actually appetizing, and also, it was Azula and Bulla who dominated the table. Toph found herself participating in their little competition, which was to determine whose royal (or in her case, noble) court was more sophisticated.

“Concede your defeat, my dear, for you have no way of defeating this one: my personal morning care included a full bath, hair wash, towelling, hair brushing, hair styling and clothing, all performed by our well trained palace servants ready to fulfil all and any of my wishes. And these activities were either intertwined or followed by a selection of spa services on demand, as well as a selection of snacks. I could go on and list some of these, but we would probably sit here until morning.” Azula sounded very prideful as she spoke.

“Honey, please. I can get anything that you say and more at my home. Except that all of it gets done with mechanisms which never make mistakes, not mentioning that we probably have more spa services thanks to technology. How are you going to beat perfect machines with servants?” Bulla waved her hand in Azula’s general direction while closing her eyes, visibly trying to emphasize her condescending attitude.

“Ah, very easily: you don’t get to punish machines for making mistakes, nor watch them cover with fear at your wrath. Which is what you can do with servants.” Azula said, with some triumph in her tone.

Bulla did not respond for a good few seconds.

“I do admit, it does sound truly enticing. Perhaps you would be willing to provide me with such a unique… experience during the next visit at your palace?” Bulla now spoke with a way softer tone than usual.

“Oh, look at her now, fawning all over you.” Pan moaned to Azula. “Was there ever a time where you spoke honestly at this table?” She added, facing Bulla and smiling maliciously.

“Shh, shh, peasant. The grownups are talking. I know it is perhaps way over your head, but this is called diplomacy.” Bulla threw back at her with an unprecedented level of venom in her voice.

“I would not bother explaining such matters to a brute like herself. She will never be able to comprehend the intricacies of noble behaviour.” Azula said, evidently competing with Bulla in terms of smearing their voices with venom.

“Not that I would want to. Very well, have fun snaking and hissing at each other, while I remain at a safe distance. I will be over here, doing literally anything else.” Pan spoke angrily to both of them. “Toph, wanna come with? Away from the Princess Snake Club?”

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me. I know the rules of the club. Besides, I just had an idea of a challenge they cannot possibly beat.” Toph summoned her own malicious smile.

“Oh, is that so?” Bulla said. “I know that you are supposed to come from nobility, but then again, how are you going to compare to TWO royal houses?”

“By listing the actual spa services that you guys have to offer. Believe me if I say that the Earth Kingdom nobles had some really crazy ideas in this field. Let’s start with the easy one: how do you do the removal of dead skin and calluses from your feet?”

“Well, like I said, we have a machine for that. In this case, it could be a set of small pumice stones on wheels on tiny robotic arms, also armed with dispensers of various skin care gels and oils. I have something like this at my home, although there are many other variations available.”

“Interesting. We usually solve that part with a single pumice stone. Perhaps more primitive, compared to a fancy machine, but it does the job well enough if you keep the servant at it for long enough.” Azula spoke. “I’m sure that we have something more creative in store though, I just never felt a need for it, given how satisfying it felt to keep someone on their knees for a few minutes.”

“Pragmatism at it’s finest. Well then, what do you have to offer, Toph? Something more inventive than a machine or more enjoyable than watching lowborns do their dirty work?” Bulla spoke.

“Well, how about putting your feet in a small pool full of tiny fishes that eat the dead skin and calluses away? I bet that they are more precise than either people or machines, and their touch feels like thousands tiny tickles all over your feet. And it is usually applied with a servant doing a shoulder massage, or any other body part, at the same time.”

Both Azula and Bulla stared at her. Toph smiled triumphantly and slightly giggled.

“I need that. Now!” Azula sounded almost stern.

“I bet we can get your servants to do that. Also, sign me in for a round.” Bulla followed with similar tone.

“And sign me in for some vomiting. Toph, please, don’t give them any further ideas.” Pan moaned. Even though she moved a few chairs away from them, she was still listening in.

“Haha, no promises.” Toph smiled maliciously.

“By all means, do give us further ideas. What else have you got in store?” Bulla concentrated on her.

“Please, don’t…” Pan started moaning again. Before Toph managed to dash her hopes and dreams though, the Saiyan girl focused on something else. “Oh, thank Dende that you are here!”

Indeed, Katara, Sokka and Aang have walked through the door. Toph sensed them coming, but did not pay much attention to that, being too focused on the two princesses. Now however she had a look.

And something felt off about all of them. Toph did not have much experience at judging expressions, but she still felt that Katara was upset about something, while Aang and Sokka were at some form of unease.

The other people at the table noticed their arrival, following Pan’s reaction. Malina stood up first.

“Hello, kids. We were expecting you.” She said with a cheerful tone. “Saved you some of the best bites, I must admit that it was hard with Mr Whis around. No offence, sir.” She turned towards Whis for a moment.

“No problem, my dear, I just can’t get enough of all those delicacies!” Whis reacted in between chewing on something.

“So, there you go.” She continued in the trio’s general direction. “We have brought you some extra chairs in advance…” Her cheerfulness was replaced by worry, when she had a closer look at their faces, especially Katara’s. “You look upset, honey, is everything alright?” She talked directly to the waterbender.

“I’m fine.” Katara responded in a deadpan tone, and then sat down, looking down at the table. She immediately picked up a fork and started playing with it.

Malina must have noticed something that Toph couldn’t, as she now appeared more reserved. She did decide for one further attempt at communication though: “Ok, good. Umm, can I get you anything then?”

“No, thank you, I’m not hungry.” She responded, still staring at the table. Her tone grew to be a bit stern.

Malina nodded and backed away. Her face suggested that she was somewhat saddened, but Toph could not really read why. She did notice Azula staring at both of them for a moment.

Before she could piece anything together, Whis stopped eating and talked loudly:

“It’s good that you are finally here. I have something important to tell to everyone.”

All people present in the room focused on him, except Katara. He looked around shortly, giggled a bit and added:

“And by everyone, I mean my students. You see, given how fantastic the food is here, we will probably be staying around for quite a while, as well as coming back here more often. Therefore, I suggest that you perform some of your exercises during our stay, both today and on other days.”

Katara lifted up her head. “But, won’t it be dangerous if we do it in town?”

Toph knew what she was talking about. “Well, we could go outside, somewhere into the snowfields, to train.” Normal bending practice could be done in an inhabited area, but their scale of training…

“Ah, I do not suggest any of the combat or strength practice… albeit you could do well with some wrestling. Still, that’s for later. For now, I would like you to resume your mediation about the control of your Chi.”

“You mean the exercise about the little ball of light?” Aang spoke.

“Precisely.” Whis said.

“By the way, are we supposed to speak of it in front of them?” Katara asked, gazing shortly at Malina and Maliq. Azula seemed to be following her gaze for a moment.

“Do not worry, my dear, I have allowed myself to shortly instruct them on what has been happening to you.”

“Yeah, we know that you are in training under his wing to master those ‘superpowers’ you were talking about earlier. I can’t wait to see it!” Maliq spoke. Katara rolled her eyes a bit, as he continued. “But first, I finally want to have a chat with Sokka. Is that alright if I borrow him for a little bit, Mr Whis?”

“Naturally, chat away if you need to. I would love to see him make some progress though, so don’t take too long with that.” Whis responded.

“Of course, it will only be a moment.” Maliq then turned towards Sokka. “So, aren’t you curious to check how your new palace will look like?”

“Of course I am!” Sokka said. He sounded quite enthusiastic now. “Come on, lay it on the table!” He pointed at his bag.

“A palace?” Azula reacted. “Truly, after everything that I have witnessed here today, I am almost curious to see what a Water Tribe palace would look like. Can I perhaps have a look too?”

“Of course, of course… wait, you are that Fire Nation princess. Ummm…” He looked around at everyone else. “Are you guys really alright with her being around while I demonstrate some of the Water Tribe’s development plans?”

“Why would you be worried about that? Fire Nation and both Water Tribes are at peace with each other and I am here on behalf of my brother.” Azula spoke, smiling.

“Let her look. She will hear us talking anyway, or dig everything out from Zuko afterwards. Or from Bulla.” Sokka spoke, taking a look at the mentioned Saiyan girl who moved near him, most likely to look at the plans as well.

“Oh, very well. Come over and have a look, if you so desire.” Maliq grunted.

“Thank you very much.” Azula smiled, walking over to where he was sitting.

“Okay then. The rest of you:” Whis spoke, taxing Aang, Katara, Toph and Pan. “Will commence the exercise. Pan, you will demonstrate it as usual.”

“Okay, Mr Whis!” She responded cheerfully.

“The task is the same as the last time. Summon a small orb of yellow light between your palms using your pure Chi.” Whis said. He then turned back to his plate. “I am naturally open to any questions that you might have, but do expect delays in answers.” When he finished, he took another bite of the seal steak in front of him and exclaimed in clear amazement.

“Oh, that sounds so fascinating. May I have a look as you do it?” Malina spoke, turning towards the assembling trainees.

“Nothing fascinating to see, really” Katara grunted. “Just a few kids sitting down and staring at their hands, spewing light all around them…”

“Oh…” Malina’s smile weakened. Aang looked at Katara. Again, looking somewhat worried. He then smiled and spoke to her:

“Well, if you mention it like that, it does sound kind of fascinating. We will be alright, you can watch us!” He turned to Malina at the second sentence.

“Yeah, whatever…” Katara said, having sat down and assumed a meditation stance.

Toph did the exact same thing. And now she was certain: for whatever reason, Katara did not like that Malina lady. She figured that Aang and Sokka knew it too. And given that Azula was shooting barely visible glances at both of them, she probably guessed that as well.

She was not sure why, but the whole scenario was giving her the creeps. She felt as if there was something looming over them.

She then however abandoned this topic, as each related person, including herself, dove deep into whatever activity they started. Sokka, Bulla and Azula listened to Maliq’s babbling, while the four of them forgot the entire world in order to focus on their unruly aura and the feeble attempts to contain it.

As the light fest around them began again, both Maliq and Malina gazed in amazement. Toph also felt some kids arrive, trying to stare at them from behind the windows. After a few seconds, she twitched her fingers and made the ground rotate beneath them, making them shortly scream and run away. Releasing a small chuckle, she resumed her meditation.

 

* * *

 

Aang managed to repeat his accomplishment from the previous day. His aura was squeezed into a tiny ball, or at least some of it was. It still resembled a puff of smoke as opposed to a small light though, and he still had trouble with all of that other aura around him. He was certain that the restaurant they were in must have looked like a haunted house. He saw the chef and some of the staff wander in and out of their hall, markedly trying to move away from the shining team as fast as humanly possible, but he did not feel anyone else inside, or nearby outside for that matter.

His wondering about this occurrence was broken by Pan moving closer to him and speaking:

“Very good! You are already back where you finished yesterday!”

Aang tried to respond, but then gasped and refocused for a moment, as the ball he was squeezing almost went out of control. After regaining composure, he managed to speak:

“Thank… you… but it’s… still…”

“Yeah, I know… you are putting way more energy into it than you need to, guys. I mean, you will get there like this eventually, but it’s way easier to do it lightly, like this!” She followed that sentence by creating another small light over an open palm.

Katara grunted. Her aura raged around her, showing no sign of being controlled.

“Look, I know that’s it’s supposed to be done ‘lightly’, but whenever I try to reach out and feel my Chi, all of that aura begins to pop up! Do you have any suggestions on what to do about that?” There was some anger in her voice.

Aang looked at her. This angry mood of her persisted still. It sort of reminded him of the time when she grew mad at him for having outpaced her in the waterbending training. He knew she would not be this fiery in normal circumstances though. He just hoped for now that Pan would not get upset over this.

He looked at the Saiyan girl in fear, but was surprised to find her deeply lost in thought, stroking her chin and staring mindlessly at Katara’s water pouch.

Perhaps not so mindlessly though. She pointed at the pouch and spoke:

“That’s odd, because your Chi control seems perfect whenever you interact with this.” Short pause. Toph and Aang both calmed down their own attempts, focusing on her. “Can you perhaps draw some of that water for me?”

Katara did as she was asked.

“Okay, now form a small ball of it between your palms.”

The ball was formed. Both Aang and Toph came closer to look at it.

“Don’t you feel any of your Chi here now? That’s more or less the amount that you need for that ball of light.”

Katara looked at it for a moment. She squinted, and then closed her eyes, only to open them and look at Pan.

“No, I don’t think so, I…” She then looked at the ball again. “I’m not sure…”

“Do keep your eyes closed, it will help.” Whis suddenly spoke from the distance.

“Yup. And also, try to make a bigger ball.” Pan said.

Katara drew all the water from her pouch, forming a quite large orb.

“I can lend you some of mine if you need more.” Malina said. From what Aang noticed, she observed them carefully the whole time.

Katara did not respond. She just faced the orb. She then moved it around. She suddenly put it all back in the pouch, only to draw it again. She repeated this process a few times.

“I think I do feel something, but it’s so faint... I’m not sure if this is my Chi, or if I am just imagining it.”

“You definitely do. After all, imagining that Chi is there is not that far from actually sensing it there.” Whis giggled.

“What does it feel like?” Toph asked.

“It’s... “ Katara murmured. “A bit like when we sense a powerful Chi nearby. Light and warmth… and something else…”

“Feelings and emotions. Sensing Chi allows to read all of that… as Chi is essentially just that: a sum of various ‘energies’ and ‘aspects’ that comprise a person.” Pan spoke.

Katara did not respond, staring intently into the orb instead.

“It’s a bit weird that you could not do it before though. You know, before… you got your new powers...” Pan hesitated for a bit, likely stopping herself from mentioning the spells. She was now stroking her chin. “I always thought that a person that can control their Chi can also sense it, I mean…”

“Those two abilities are not always correlated.” Whis spoke. “For example, Frieza is a very talented Chi user who was completely devoid of the ability to sense it until one of his resurrections.”

“He died more than once?” Toph looked baffled. As most people in the room did: even Maliq and Sokka turned their heads away from the paperwork for a moment.

“Hah, he did indeed. Twice.” Bulla chuckled. “Once at the hand of my brother, and once at the hand of my father… almost…” The last word turned into a growl as she looked at Pan.

“Yeah, but my gramps stole the kill. Whatever.” Pan waved her hand at the other Saiyan and then turned back to Katara. “So, what was it in your case? Could you sense Chi by any means in the past or not?”

“I mean, we kind of did…” Aang muttered in response. “But it felt different. I could tell when someone was bending near me, or I could sometimes tell how a person feels when focused on them, but… it was way more vague… I did not ‘see’ or ‘feel’ their literal presence as clear as we do now...”

“This ability was empowered in you, just as all the others were.” Whis spoke. “Let’s focus on the exercise for now.” This part made Sokka and Maliq return to their blueprints. “Pan, I really like this idea, to try and sense Chi in an element. Perhaps the rest of you could try and find it within this water ball as well?”

Aang nodded, and looked into the ball for a moment.

“Hmmm, I can’t feel anything…” He paused, and then brightened up a bit. “Maybe it will work better with our own bending?” He looked at Whis.

“I was thinking the same thing.” Toph spoke.

With these words, she stood up and walked to the door. She opened it and waved her hand outside. A substantially large rock flew to her hand. She carried it over to where she was sitting before, and then levitated it between her palms.

“It is true.” Whis commented. “Feeling your own Chi is way easier than sensing someone else’s. Good job, you two.”

Aang nodded at the angel and then moved away a bit from the others. He thought about summoning an air spout, but then he recalled something.

_It’s like a little heartbeat..._

Those were his own words when he was presented with a piece of the Eternal Flame in the Sun Warrior city. The feeling from that time felt familiar to the descriptions he heard now.

He therefore summoned a small flame between his palms. He made it weaker and stronger, warmer and colder, while trying to assess what he felt. There was the heat and light of the fire, but when he closed his eyes, he felt as if he was seeing something else.

He put the flame out and then made a small air spout. He wanted to check whether or not he sensed something or if he was just imagining it. Fortunately, the warmth and light of Chi was still there.

He switched back to a flame. He then intensified it a bit. And the Chi indeed grew stronger.

He tried to get it to a point where it felt like that heartbeat again. For some reason, he felt that this is what he was supposed to do.

After a moment, he succeeded. The fire was pulsating a bit, as if it was alive. It drummed silently, and he realised that it did so at the pace of his own heart.

He opened his eyes, and stared into the fire. As he looked, he felt as if he was seeing his own imagination, various visions from his mind twirling between the flames. The pulse continued.

He then put the fire out and tried to invoke this feeling again. His own heart and mind between his palms. A fire started again, but it felt different. This feeling was stronger, and the flame was weaker.

He tried again. And again. And again. At some point he focused specifically to not create a fire: then nothing happened. He then reversed the tactic. He focused on nothing but this feeling, ignoring any fire and air as well as everything else in general.

At some point, there was no fire between his palms anymore. Just the beat. Just the light.

“Look, look! He got it!” Pan exclaimed.

Everyone else dropped their stuff, Katara creating a small puddle on the floor. Aang got startled a bit and the light dissipated.

“You blew it, Pan.” Toph murmured. Aang breathed heavily. Not out of fear, but out of effort.

“No, I didn’t. If he did it once, he can do it again. Give it a go, Aang!”

This time the entire room stared at him. Even the people at the table, lifting their heads up from their papers and plates.

Aang did his best to ignore them. That’s what worked the last time, after all.

He tried to invoke this feeling again. His heart, and the light of his Chi between his hands. He was almost scared that it will not happen again, but then he felt it coming again. And it erased all doubt from his mind. The little orb reappeared.

Everyone stared at it in awe. Sokka, Maliq, Bulla and even Azula: all of them turned their heads away from the papers.

“Congratulations, Aang.” Whis spoke.

“Wow…” Sokka exclaimed.

“Not bad, not bad at all…” Bulla murmured. The two northerners looked at the orb in awe.

“I see what you did there. Good job.” Pan said to Aang.

“What did he do there?” Toph asked.

Aang dissipated the light again. He then stood up and spawned two fire orbs, using the feeling from before.

“There, I will show you. Grab those two flames from me.” He spoke. He then gave one flame to Katara and another to Toph.

“Wow, it’s like I’m holding my own heart!” Toph exclaimed, holding the fire in cupped hands in front of her. “I feel a heartbeat!”

“I see. Interesting.” Whis reacted. “That’s quite an unusual way to go around it, given that you can materialise your Chi from any feeling or desire. I guess that you must have sensed something like this in the past to choose this of all things, am I right?” Whis spoke, looking at Aang near the end.

“Exactly. It was at the Sun Warriors temple. They taught me how to firebend there.”

“So… we are supposed to summon feeling like this outside of our body?” Katara asked.

“Yes. That’s what I did, I think.” Aang said. He then moved near Katara, and said: “I will guide you through it.”

He placed his hands near her, around that flame. He felt the heart beating, but it was not his this time, but hers. When their hands touched by accident, it started beating faster.

They looked each other in the eyes. And then the flame changed. Feeling like both of their hearts at the same time.

 

* * *

 

The two hearts beating as one.

Katara stared at the little light summoned over her palm. After the practice with Aang, she had managed to finally create it.

It felt simple to her, really, almost annoyingly simple. But then again, perhaps every challenge was simple once you have learned how to beat it.

She enjoyed her success, almost as much as this feeling that she had summoned into the orb. The whole session with Aang felt in a way like a single long embrace, or even kiss. Experiencing it again was extremely pleasant.

So much that in fact she almost tolerated the presence of Malina. The northern waterbender observed their training, and seemed genuinely happy when Katara succeeded at spawning the light. This made her almost feel that perhaps this woman was not as bad as she imagined her to be.

Or perhaps it was an elaborate ruse. A way to gain her and her father’s trust to help further Maliq’s sinister plans, whatever they were. She did not know if Gilak’s suspicions about him held any credit, if there truly was some terrible secret in his trusty bag. It did not matter, really. Being a wife of one of the world leaders was enough of a shady agenda to follow.

And she did not believe that her father would fall for something so silly. And that didn’t matter much either. His real wife, Kya, her mother, was coming back. Whatever this lady was up to, be it genuine affection or being an opportunistic floozy, did not matter.

This thought elevated her mood even further. Nothing could go wrong anymore if her mom was coming back. And this light in her palm seemed to agree, as it grew brighter and brighter.

 

* * *

 

Sokka paid attention when Katara (and later Toph) managed to create their little orbs of light. And as happy as he was for their success, he was even happier that he could finally return to the paperwork in front of him without distractions.

He now observed a plan of a large refinery. It was already mid construction from what he learned, and it contained a number of technological marvels that drew his attention. Still, there was one thing that did not add up here.

“Where will we get this all of this machinery from? As far as I know, we do not have any factories producing engines or steel plating.”

“Nor any other factories, sadly. Would be a welcome change from all of those dull ice buildings. You could use some scenery improvement, not mentioning industrialisation.” Azula commented.

“Heh, tell me about it. It’s about time we started production of something else than seal jerky. Well Maliq, again, where will we get all of this stuff from?”

He did not notice that Azula looked at him disapprovingly. If he paid attention, he would have deduced that she tried to belittle him, but, given his focus on the plan and the fact that her sentence essentially agreed with own thoughts, he did not care.

“From the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom, naturally. Fire Lord Zuko said that he had a lot of machinery he is willing to spare, as it lies around for no purpose after all of his military factories have been decommissioned.”

“ALL of the military factories?” Azula asked, looking at him and raising her brows.

“Well, I don’t think that he closed every single one, of course.” Maliq said. “Just the ones that were not needed anymore after the war…”

“Curious… I will have to ask him personally. Whatever, continue.” She spoke, frowning.

“Sure. You see, many of these machines would clearly not be useful in a refinery. But, this is where the Earthen Fire Industries step in. They take all of this gear apart and then rebuild it to serve a different purpose. Including mining and refining activities.”

“And they will be bringing it here?” Azula asked.

“Yes. On top of that, Fire Lord will provide us with extra workforce. We could really use some firebenders down here, to melt all that ice in the construction areas.”

“Oh, is that so…” Azula moaned lightly.

“Cool. My father told me that there will be talks with Zuko and the Earth King in a few weeks.” Sokka said.

“Yes, and that bit will be included. And before that happens, Mr Lao Beifong should arrive here with some of the machines. We already had a deal with them prior.”

“Cool, and what was that deal about?” Sokka asked.

“Just some of the oil in exchange for the lease of the machinery. They probably would let us keep some of them if we paid more, but they might not be needed after we establish our own industry, so for the time being we will just stick to lease.” Maliq explained.

“And how much of the oil they want for that lease, if I may ask?”

Sokka was not that curious about it, but he wanted to test the theory that he heard from Gilak.

“I am not sure, exactly. I think I have it written down somewhere, but who cares about that. It’s the boring bureaucratic stuff.” Maliq spoke.

“I don’t mind really. I just want to see if they aren’t screwing us over, or anything. Azula, do you have any knowledge about a trade of lease for resources?” Sokka turned to her.

“Naturally. The army sometimes borrowed their gear to the industrial sectors in exchange for some of their produce. And we even had a few oil exchanges. I know, because I was curious about the new secret types of engines they were meant to fuel. Which, apparently, now are the common knowledge...” She moaned the last sentence.

“There, you see? Let’s check if those deals are alright. Bring out that paperwork.” Sokka gestured at Maliq’s bag, as if he wanted to move it closer to its owner.

“No. There is no need for that. I’m sure they are alright.”

This gave a short pause not even to Sokka, but to Azula as well. Maliq’s reaction was stronger than they anticipated, with his tone rising and him pushing his bag away a bit, so that is out of Sokka’s reach. His voice was so loud, that it made Katara put out her little light and look at him.

Sokka was focused on Maliq, so he did not notice the exchange of looks that followed. Malina squinted a bit at him. Katara seemed to have paid attention to that. And Azula seemed to have paid attention not only to these two, but to Katara as well. And then, Bulla and Whis of all people seemed to have paid attention to the entire room, including the fire princess. Only Toph, Pan and Aang were left out of the loop, as prior to Maliq’s little outburst they were doing more exercises, apparently trying to push the light orbs around.

 “Okay, okay. Let’s get to something else then. As a matter of fact, why won’t you show me where is our new palace going to be built?” Sokka made sure that his tone was completely neutral.

Maliq brightened up and said: “Ah, yes, sure. Hey, I have a better idea: let’s hit a tour of all construction sites. I will show you the palace grounds, as well as the refinery and the harbour...”

His speech was interrupted by someone opening the door.

It was Hakoda. He looked somewhat worn out.

“Hey, dad!” Katara immediately stood up and faced him with a large smile.

“Hey there, sweetie…” He responded. A few other greetings followed.

“Hello, dear, are you alright?” Malina spoke to him, also standing up.

And this time, Sokka did see another network of attention. Malina’s greeting towards Hakoda was almost as enthusiastic as Katara’s. And Katara must have paid attention to that, as her smile faded strongly. Hakoda seemed to notice that. His face already looked weary when he arrived, and this feeling seemed to have intensified. All of this was observed by Azula. She paid close attention to all three. And she was again noticed by Bulla and Whis. Aang seemed to have mostly focused on Katara, while Pan and Toph looked at Hakoda. They were distracted again, as they were about to return to their little exercise.

Sokka did figure that these two, Malina and his father, were connected somehow. He hoped that it was not what he suspected, but the signs were too clear. Still, he didn’t know why Azula would be paying close attention to them. He had no chance to consider that though, as his father spoke, facing Malina:

“Yes, I am fine...” He then faced his kids. “Katara, Sokka, we need to talk. Could you come with me outside?”

His tone was as weary as his expression. Sokka had an unpleasant feeling that he knew what his father wanted to say.

“Yes, sure…” Katara spoke, sounding somewhat suspicious. “Come on, Sokka!”

“Ah, yes. A moment.” He got up from the table and walked towards the entrance, where his dad stood. The room was silent.

Soon, they left the building. Some chatter resumed behind them after they closed the door.

“What is it, dad? You look kind of glum.” Katara asked.

“Yeah, ummm, you see… I have been thinking about what you said. That we could bring Kya back from the dead.” His voice was a bit shaky.

“Yes, we can. We can call Whis at any moment and it will be done.” Katara responded. Sokka flinched a bit. She still refused to take any alternative into consideration. Such as:

“Yes, I have no doubt about that. I mean… I probably should, but I trust what you say.” Hakoda spoke. It was hard not to notice that he was hesitating. “The thing is…”

“What is it?” Katara asked again.

“I don’t think we should bring her back.” Spoken quietly.

A long pause. Sokka expected something like this. After discovering that his father had a new girlfriend, which was nearly confirmed back there in the dining hall, he realised that his dad would naturally be hesitant towards such an incomprehensible idea.

Sokka was willing to accept that. Assuming naturally that this Malina was a decent person. However, he doubted that his sister would just take it to the face. And he was not wrong.

“But… but why? Why not? Don’t you want her to come back?” She was clearly upset.

“Well…” Hakoda paused. “It’s… I’m not sure if this such a good idea. I mean… how would your mom even feel eight years later, suddenly returning from death? What is even happening to her on the other side? Maybe she already has a new life there? And on top of that, how would the people react to someone who was supposed to be dead for all this time?”

“Why would we care what they think? They know or will know that we are dealing with gods. Can’t we just play it off as their gift for us?” Katara almost shouted this response.

“No matter how it happens, don’t you think that it is unfair? That we get to bring back someone and they don’t? I mean, everyone has someone whom they cared about and who died. And again, I am most concerned about what Kya would want. We live in a completely different world now, I don’t think that...”

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing…” Katara muttered.

Hakoda paused. Sokka was scared to open his mouth.

“I can’t believe that you would care about any of this. I don’t believe that it would stop you. You just don’t want her to come back…” She spoke. Her tone was almost deadpan, but it felt as if there was a storm hiding behind this pretended calmness.

Hakoda was left speechless. “I…”

“You left mom for this skank from the North? Did you really fall for someone who cares for nothing but your position?” The storm came. Katara practically screamed at her father.

Hakoda was visibly shaken by this. Sokka felt a hinge of anger.

“Katara, dad couldn’t have known that mom can come back. And we don’t know anything about this woman! Maybe stop talking and start thinking for once?” His voice was loud, but he tried to hold back.

“Start thinking for once? Okay, let’s see. Ah, yes, of course someone like her would have the best intentions! Her clinging herself to a new world leader, and that twitchy buddy of hers who freaks out every time someone looks at his bag! Are you both blind or something?” His sister was livid.

“Katara, I know what it must look like, but… She is not a bad person. She would never do something like this...” Hakoda started to speak.

“So it’s true. You don’t care about mom anymore.” Katara interrupted.

“I do care about her!” Hakoda barged in, his voice finally gaining strength. “I would never have bonded myself with another woman if I knew she can come back…” This strength did not last long: now he looked as if he was about to cry. “But… It’s not so simple now. What am I supposed to say to Malina? Sorry, it was fun, but my dead wife is coming back to life, so piss off? What do you expect me to do here?”

She did not speak for quite a long time.

“You must be crazy to trust someone like her…” She muttered again.

“Katara, stop with that already!” Sokka said. “Again, how do you know who or what she is? Did you ever talk to her? Because the only thing I remember now is you scowling at her whenever she tried to talk to you.”

Katara turned to him, her gaze almost murderous.

And then the door opened. Maliq could be seen through it, with the majority of the group behind him. The only people that remained at the tables were Malina and Whis.

“Excuse me, we were wondering what is taking you so long. Are we…” the northerner spoke.

“It’s not the best time, Maliq…” Sokka grunted at him.

“No, no, it is the best time. The discussion is over. You wanted to see the refinery, am I right? Let’s go and do that.” Katara barked at him.

He paused here for a moment. “Okay…” Some hesitation could be heard in his voice. Ultimately, he decided to walk out of the building. The rest of the group followed him. Aang walked over to Katara. Sokka figured that it was hard not to notice that she was absolutely livid.

“Is everything alright?” Aang spoke, taking her hand.

“I’m fine.” She threw at him, pushing him away. “Let’s just get going.”

She then walked away a bit. She passed her father, completely ignoring him. Someone else did look at him though.

“Hakoda, you coming with? We will visit all of the construction sites.” Maliq moved over to him.

“No… I… I need to think…” He spoke, his voice shaky. He walked into the restaurant and closed the door behind him.

“Some family argument?” Toph asked. Everyone observed the two siblings carefully.

“We’re good. Let’s get going already.” Katara grunted.

“Okay…” Toph shrugged her shoulders.

 They started walking, following Maliq’s lead. Sokka moved over to him quickly, and started asking some random questions about the projects they were about to see. He did hope to stall for time.

Perhaps long enough for his sister to calm down and use her brain for once.

 

* * *

 

The group stood in front of a towering grey building with large windows and dozens of tubes and pipes sticking out of it. A few larger ones were placed horizontally on the ground. They were attached to the building, but unlike most of the others, they were unfinished.

Sokka looked at them with curiosity. Maliq followed his gaze and reacted, just as he used to do with everything else they passed by:

“These pipelines will be forwarded to the harbour, so that the oil can be loaded straight to the tankers! Isn’t that amazing?” Spoken excitingly.

“Yeah, it definitely is!” Sokka said, doing his best to pretend that he shared his enthusiasm.

He did not though. He still remembered about his sister. Whenever she was spoken to, she flashed a weird smile that never reached her eyes, whilst saying some throwaway line. The fake smile was vanishing away very quickly when the attention was turned from her, being replaced by tense brooding. Aang tried to approach her a few times, but she was casting him aside the same way, visibly keeping her distance to everyone else.

The worst part was that as they went on, a small crowd started following them. A few children started asking for Whis, only to then notice Aang and start gawking over him. Their parents soon arrived after them, followed by a number of other people, curious what the commotion was all about.

“And speaking of the harbour, when you will start building it?” Sokka asked Maliq.

“In a few months. First, the refinery needs to be functional. Then, we need to get the gear from Earthen Fire Industries. Oh, and we also need to make sure that all of the accommodations for both current and future workers are in place.” He heard in response.

“Oh, I see. And what gear you have in mind?” Sokka was genuinely curious about it. Toph and Azula listened in as well.

“Well, there will be a lot of digging and ice melting there. So, we will need excavators and drills, preferably supported by firebenders and earthbenders. And the amount of machines we will order will depend on how many of the benders would be offered by the Fire Lord and the Earth King. We already have a deal for the machines with Mr Lao Beifong, but we might need to alter… Hey, speaking of Beifong, you are Toph Beifong, right?” He now turned to the earthbender.

“Yes, I am, just like I told you before…” Toph responded. Some irritation crept onto her face.

“That’s fantastic! We await your father’s arrival for quite a while, but there has been a delay. Perhaps you can give me an update on what’s going on with him?” Maliq’s enthusiasm intensified.

“I already told you so, I am out of the loop! I was supposed to join dad’s company, but I didn’t get the chance yet!” Toph almost shouted at him.

“Ah, sorry, sorry, my bad.” Maliq got a bit perplexed.

“He is most likely preparing for the research of the spaceship. We did send a hawk to him with an invitation...” Sokka mentioned.

“The spaceship? The mysterious flying vessel of the aliens? Whis mentioned it, but he didn’t want to go into any details!” Maliq practically exploded here. “Oh, and I heard that you flew in here in another spaceship! Can you tell me how it works? Did you…”

“Sokka, why did you bring it up…” Toph moaned, interrupting him.

Azula smiled maliciously. “Oh, come on, it is such a fascinating subject. I am curious about it myself to be honest.”

“Eh, I just know that if we let those two get on with it, they will never shut up.” Toph grunted.

“Hmmm, and we are supposed to be talking about local developments. Very well: Maliq” Azula turned to the northerner. “I’m quite certain that my sweet soft brother will be very cooperative with the firebenders. However, do you think that the Earth King will be willing to spare any resources? He needs to worry about his own country after all... ”

“Yes, it’s true... We will probably have to bribe him with quite a bit of oil. But, I am sure that we will come to an agreement. Besides, we won’t even need that many earthbenders. It’s the South Pole. There is barely anything here but ice here, am I right?” He looked at Sokka at the last sentence.

“Well, there is all of that oil you keep babbling on about. And a lot of other mineral resources as well… I think.” Toph said. She did stutter a little at the last words. Sokka wondered if she saw some of these with her earth sense; if she could use it through ice, snow and shoes, that is.

“Ah yes, naturally. I meant on the surface. But then again, we should always look at what's beneath the surface, am I right?” Maliq went on.

“Yes, indeed. There is wisdom in that thought.” Azula commented.

Katara listened in a bit more closely to that part. And her expression was far from happy. Noticing her, Sokka felt is if he was playing a ten player game of Pai-Sho where each combatant points a blade at everyone else’s heart.

“And that’s what drove me to conduct these searches for minerals in the first place. Nature loves balance after all.” Maliq concluded.

“Yes, it does.” Katara suddenly spoke. She summoned that creepy smile again. “So, what other plans do you have in store for us?”

Everyone gathered here paid attention to her, as if they were expecting something. And only Maliq did not seem to be tense. Sokka was amazed just how oblivious this guy was to her behaviour so far.

“Like I said, our main projects are the harbour, the refinery, and the palace. Naturally, there are also various accommodations and commerce projects, but hey, those are the little things and I want to show you guys the big stuff!”

“Aww, but we heard about those already. Tell us about all the other big things that you have planned for the Southern Water Tribe.” Katara’s voice sounded innocent. Very unfit for the cold gaze she was showering Maliq with.

“Well, there is not much else planned here, young lady. Like this is pretty much a grand summary. Get the refinery and harbour going to trade the oil and build your old man a palace worthy of his status as the Head Chieftain of the South!” He accented the title.

“That’s amazing!” Katara spoke, with the same tone and face. “Can we perhaps have a look at the blueprints?”

“Wait, you mean, right now? I mean, sure, but maybe let’s find a table? There are some construction barracks near the shore, I heard that they already have been built. Hey, if you wanted to take a look at the blueprints, you could have done that back at the restaurant. They were on the table for quite a while...” His eyes widened a bit in confusion.

“Nah, I needed to complete that exercise back then. Come on, let’s take a look at the contents of that briefcase.” As she said that, she moved closer to Maliq, reaching with her hand towards his mentioned bag.

“Hey, hands off of it!” Maliq suddenly freaked out.

Katara looked him in the eyes. The fake smile has vanished. Her tone remained relatively calm however:

“Wow, okay. I just wanted to take a look. I mean, we are going to see everything that you have in there anyway, right? So, what’s your problem?”

“Well, maybe I don’t like when someone is touching my stuff! I did not think that something like this needed explaining!” He looked her in the eye, and finally seemed to have noticed what was off with her gaze. “You have been acting weird the entire day! Maybe the question is: what is your problem?” He appeared genuinely upset.

“You are awfully defensive about something that is supposed to be the public knowledge. Why act so serious? I mean, pretty much everyone important in the city should know the contents of this bag by heart now.” Azula spoke, smiling lightly.

“Ummm, I don’t know how you handle it in the Fire Nation, but not all plans and ideas of the leaders make it to the public.” Maliq spoke. Now his tone was condescending. He hugged the briefcase to his chest.

“But they do make it to the leaders themselves. And you just happen to be talking to the leader’s daughter. Who is deeply concerned about her country, from what I understand.” Bulla chimed in.

“Exactly. And therefore, I do want to know everything about the plans for its future. And I’m surprised that you won’t just show them to me when I ask for it.” Her voice was getting stronger as she talked.

“But there is nothing to see here! I don’t have any other plans here!” Maliq almost shouted. “Come on, people, can’t a man keep a hold of his property?”

He turned to the onlookers as he said that. However, nobody said anything. The people gathered stared at him with the looks best described as suspicious.

Then, one man broke the silence. Sokka recognised Gilak immediately.

“It’s not your property, if it concerns our future, you weasel!” He shouted. Some murmurs of agreement could be heard. “You kept this briefcase from Katara, and so you did from her father! Who just happens to be your superior and the most important person in the South, like you said yourself. Why won’t you just give it to us if there is nothing new to see there?”

“Well, maybe I need these for my work? And I don’t want you to make a mess of them?” Maliq shouted back.

“Ah, please…” Azula moaned loudly. “Your little charade is almost transparent. You would not have any trouble with showing us this bag if you were not hiding something suspicious. You are quite a pathetic liar, my dear.”

“Can’t believe I am saying that, but I agree with the fire princess.” Gilak said. “So, how about we uncover your lies right now? Give me that bag.” He moved towards Maliq.

“Spirits, people! What is wrong with you? Are you going to mug me like this, in broad daylight?” He screamed.

“Save your breath. Hakoda is not here to save your ass this time.” Gilak growled at him.

Maliq moved a couple steps backwards, terrified. However, the old man’s advance was stopped. Sokka walked in front of him.

“Wait, Gilak. I don’t think that it’s the right thing to do.”

“Are you really going to defend this little prick?” Gilak grunted.

“No, I think he is suspicious too! But we should discuss this with my father first. He should get a proper investigation and trial. Besides, what we are even accusing him off? Can anyone specify that?” Sokka taxed the crowd shortly as he asked that question.

“He is accused from withholding state secrets from his own superiors, at the very least!” Gilak responded.

“Still, we should not just jump at him like that immediately!” Sokka was not giving up.

“You want to give him some time? Why? So that he can get lady Malina to convince Hakoda to spare him, and then hide his shady papers someplace safe while they make out?” Azula spoke.

Sokka shuddered a bit at this remark. He did not need to see his sister now to know how angry she must have been.

“Well, we can…”

They did not hear what they could. Maliq’s bag suddenly disappeared from his hands. A small gust of wind followed. Sokka heard a lot of gasps and small screams from the crowd.

He did not manage to see what happened exactly, but apparently, Toph, Bulla and Pan did. He just followed their gaze. Only to see Katara standing a few meters away from the northerner. The briefcase was opened and she was browsing through all the papers, taking a quick glance at each.

Bulla walked towards her, and looked over her shoulder. So did Pan and Toph, and, after a few seconds, Azula. Toph then moved a step away, probably recalling that she cannot read. Katara ignored them all.

Maliq managed to wake up. “Hey, give it back!” He shouted. However, he could not move. Gilak grabbed his hand and held him in place.

“You will wait here until they are done.” He said.

Sokka just moaned. He wanted to say something to Gilak, but then he heard Azula speak:

“Oh, dear… This is so nefarious that it almost feels as if I wrote it myself. Congratulations, Mr Maliq, it’s not a commendation I give out lightly.” Azula was smiling.

Katara stared at a paper in front of her, looking as if she froze. Her gaze was empty. Bulla was smirking and Pan rubbed her forehead. Toph nudged her, and they whispered between each other: only for Toph to gaze at Maliq with fire in her eyes after a moment.

“What is it?” Gilak stared at them.

“Here, have a look for yourself.” Azula said. “May I?” She turned to Katara.

The waterbender closed her eyes, and nodded.

Azula took the bag and papers from her, and threw them at Gilak.

Maliq tried to catch them, but he was pushed away violently. The old man started to read the top most paper.

His hands started to tremble.

“Well, well. You are not wriggling your way out of…” He started to speak.

Sokka felt as if something broke in the air. Literally. As if a glass wall cracked near all of them. Except there was no sound and the only glassy thing nearby, the refinery windows, were intact. This feeling felt alien to him. Another Chi thing, he quickly realised. He looked at the others. All of his friends stared at his sister, each of their eyes either widening or narrowing in growing unease. He then focused at her, and gasped.

Katara was surrounded by something hard to describe. If asked earlier when looking at a picture of it, Sokka would say that it was similar to an aura, except slowly moving, black and quite small. However, now, his ability to describe things was severely crippled by the weird fear slowly taking him over. It felt like it was not his, as if it was coming from that dark thing.

The people around them stared at her and pointed fingers. It was clear that they saw it too. Some started to back away, particularly some of the parents whose children began to cry. Others seemed to be enchanted by this weird view, or perhaps too scared to move. Even Gilak froze, staring at her. The papers fell from his hands.

“Well then, I think all matters are clear now.” Katara’s tone was deadpan. However nobody could question the underlying threat. Her eyes blazed in a manner completely foreign to Sokka. He never saw her so full of hate before. “You two will leave the South. Immediately. Your goons go with you. But first, I need to have a word with your dear friend.”

This statement woke Sokka up from this weird trance he was in now.

“Katara, stop. What’s going on? What was in that document?”

“Well, where do I start? There is quite a lot of stuff in there. How about a detailed plan for the North to control all the oil extracted in the South? Or maybe how to use the oil trade to expand North’s influence over the South?”

This gave Sokka a pause. It was hard to digest that idea.

“But… they are our sister tribe! Why would they do such a thing? Maliq, what the hell is this all about?”

Maliq was not able to utter a word. He looked at Katara, appearing close to fainting.

“Have a read. And keep this piece of human garbage away from it.” She pointed at the papers on the snow. “I need to have a chat with Malina.”

She turned back towards the town. Some people bolted away, being unfortunate enough to obstruct her path. There was one person though, that instead of running, jumped in front of her. It was Aang.

“Katara, stop that. I know how you feel right now, but please, try to calm down.”

“Know how I feel? Calm down? Are you crazy? This bitch has been hitting on my dad just so that this shithead could get his little plan across!” She was shouting now. Not very loudly, but definitely very angrily. The dark aura grew, making some people step away, and some of them run away.

“It’s not just about it, and you know it. You feel that this woman replaced your mother in your father’s heart. And you are feeling betrayed. Not just because of anything bad she did, but because she could be a reason to stop your mom from coming back. And I understand that. You are incredibly mad at her and want her gone from your life.”

Katara just stood there for a few seconds. That dark aura around her did not vanish however. If anything, it has gotten stronger.

“Indeed Aang, you have nailed it, as usual. So tell me, is there any bloody point here that does not end with her out of my life? Because I fail to see one.”

“Katara, the point is that it’s not just your decision and not just your life! Your dad needs to know about all of this and they need to sort it out between themselves!” Aang said loudly.

Katara paused again.

“Next time she gets to my dad... is over my dead body. Now let me pass. I need to hear her confess it.” She said. Back to the deadpan tone. Aura kept growing. Some red light could be seen flickering within it.

This time Aang paused. His voice was wobbly when he spoke again.

“Please, Katara… I don’t… I don’t want to see you like this…”

“Look Aang, I don’t bloody care what you want. Just leave me alone.”

The whole area seemed to darken as she spoke that. Aang just stood there, his face blank.

“Oh, speak of the devil. I was looking for you.” Katara suddenly spoke over Aang’s shoulder. She moved over to have her new target in the full view.

Malina was unfortunate enough to arrive. She stared at Katara with undeniable fear in her eyes. She was accompanied by Whis, who stepped in front of her after noticing the dark aura. The crowd gasped and moved away even further at their arrival.

“Now, you will answer me a question. And then, you and him...” Katara pointed at Maliq with her head “...will leave immediately.”

Before she did or said anything else though, Sokka jumped in front of her.

“Katara, are you nuts? We can’t kick them out of here just like that!” His tone was similar to hers.

“First, yes we can, it’s not like anyone can stop us, and second, why the hell would you even defend them? Do you honestly think that we can trust them after this?” Same angry tone, aura kept pulsating strongly.

“Of course I don’t! I am not defending them. But we still need them!” He shouted.

“For what? To get some more of this cheap imitation of the North going on here?” It sounded as if she tried to outdo him. Aura kept growing.

“To help us get to the bottom of this! We need to know who gave them orders and what other plans they had! And dad should be involved in this! It’s his reputation, his post and his heart that are at stake here! And he needs to sort that last one out with her!”

“Haven’t I made myself clear? OVER MY DEAD BODY!” This one was a loud scream, that seemed to release a pulse of that dark aura. Some of the onlookers ran away.

As this exchange went on, Toph, Pan and Bulla all looked as if they wanted to say something to the two shouting siblings. However, all of them must have concluded that it was pointless to barge in, especially after seeing how Katara dealt with Aang. On top of that, there were still people in the crowd who just stood there, terrified, instead of running away. There were also new ones coming in every now and again, apparently trying to check what was going on. The three girls started walking around to these people in order to try and get them to leave the area. Azula looked at her peers for a few seconds, before following their example. Whis said something to Malina, but she did not react at all: he then began to help the girls around.

Sokka noticed all of that, but barely registered it. His main focus was now his sister.

“You are really are going out of your mind! Do you think it’s even your decision? Aang was right, it’s dad’s decision, but you wailed at both of them for speaking the truth! Do you really think that it will help you to bring mom back? Well, guess what: it won’t! We can’t do it anyway!” Sokka’s aura started to flicker around him. Comprised of normal white light, as opposed to his sister’s.

“WHAT?!? What the hell are you on about!?” Katara now screamed in confusion, her aura pulsating.

“Did you even consider it for a second that it might be a bad idea? That dad was actually right when he said why? She has been gone for so many years! What would people say if they suddenly saw someone long dead come back? Wouldn’t they want all their dead back as well?” Normally, Sokka would not scream about it in the middle of a street with some random people on it, but he was too stressed out to care about it anymore. Besides, he managed to notice that the onlookers were too scared to understand anything anyway.

“Do I look like I care what would they want? And why the hell do you care? Do you even want to see her again? Because you act like you don’t!” Sokka hoped that this little thought of it was correct, and that they did not pay attention to this exchange.

“Well, maybe you want that a little bit too much! What the hell happened with your head? Stop getting so obsessed over it!” The memory of the incident with Yon Rha flashed in his head shortly as he said this.

“Oh, so it’s an obsession now? Am I suddenly obsessed because I want to live with my mother again and stop pretending to be everyone else’s mom?” She threw at him.

This gave a halt even to Sokka. Pretending? Did she really mean that or did she just lost her mind completely? Toph must have heard that, because it made her stop trying to manage the crowd for a moment.

Aang just stood there, staring at the snow. A single tear could be seen on his cheek.

“Oh, hello dad, perfect timing. Wanna hear the news? Your new lover was stabbing you in the back the whole time. She seduced you to help get the North in control of everything down here. How does that sound?” Katara turned away from Sokka to a new target.

Hakoda could not possibly pick worse timing to arrive. Then again, the whole scene was hard to miss. Some people kept running away from this place in terror, while others kept appearing. The girls’ efforts helped to keep them at a safe distance from Katara, but they had trouble managing them all. Besides, the crowd was now mostly comprised of guards and warriors who outright refused to leave in many cases. Gilak still stood in the same spot. While hearing this accusation spoken out loud would probably get him to cheer and support it in more normal conditions, now he was too distracted by the dark aura.

Hakoda’s face was twisted in a mixture of fear and confusion.

“What?... What are you… It’s impossible… Katara, what is going on here?” He had a hard time saying anything sensible. Not surprising, given what his daughter looked and acted like.

“Don’t tell me you will defend this bitch as well! What the hell is wrong with you?” she screamed, leaving Hakoda speechless. This was a little bit too much for Sokka. His own aura exploded, as he jumped in front of Katara, grabbing her hand and twisting it upwards.

“Enough. You wailed at me and at Aang, but I won’t let you hurt dad any further.”

“Oh, don’t worry, it’s not him I want to hurt!”

 If he was not already livid himself, he would have soiled his pants under that gaze. The dark aura exploded rapidly into what felt like a pillar of shadows, and then suddenly started to emanate in all directions. Everyone of the onlookers who were stunned in fear enough to still be around, now lost it completely, running away in terror, even Gilak. The only normal humans who remained were Hakoda, Malina and Maliq. The last two looked as if they wanted to run away as well.

Katara caught Sokka’s hand and squeezed it so hard that he was forced to release his grip. She then grabbed him with both her hands on his side and pushed him away violently, causing him to fall over. Then, she turned towards Malina.

 

* * *

 

A couple of things have happened at the same time. The group, so far choosing to not interfere with Katara directly, now had no choice.

Whis walked in front of terrified Malina and raised his staff. Both Saiyan girls have released their aura, and then soon afterwards followed that up with the Super Saiyan power whilst assuming battle stances. Azula also prepared to fight. She had no Super Saiyan to transform into, but she had her trusty lightning, which started to spark around her fingers. Fortunately, they were all positioned between the crazed waterbender and the escaping crowd.

Toph was capable of seeing the motion Katara used to throw Sokka away with her earth sense, but in no way she was capable of reacting to it. She could however react to the next thing that happened: Aang walked over to Katara and stood right in front of her. With no aura or battle stance.

“Aang, what the hell are you doing?” Toph managed to scream.

Aang did not react to her. Instead, he murmured something. And then he embraced Katara.

 

* * *

 

“I know you don’t care what I want. But I won’t stop caring about you. And I won’t give up on you.”

This is what Aang said when he stood face to face with the entity who used to be his friend and lover. He was not sure if that person was still there, or if she was replaced by the darkness. But he wanted to find out. He recalled the words of the lion turtle. “Since beginning-less time, darkness thrives in the void, but always yields to purifying light”. He thought that he could try to bend her spirit, just as he did once with Ozai. However, instead of changing her or taking away something from her, he just wanted to silence the anger and hatred, if even for a moment. He was not sure if it even made any sense to try something like this, but he felt that he had to do something.

He embraced her and activated the Avatar State.

 

* * *

 

A massive beam of light lit up, completely dispersing the dark. Soon after, the sky appeared as if the clouds decided to run over it with endless speed. The stars showed up between them, shining greater than ever, even through the sun. Waves of light seemed to emanate from the Avatar, as well as to fly with the wind.

The entire land seemed to resonate with these lights. Ice seemed to have its own glow, responding to the auroras moving over it. At some point, it seemed that even the people began to shine.

 

* * *

 

Far away, in the Southern Air Temple, an air acolyte just entered a room full of Avatar statues, carrying a bucket and a rug. He walked over to the first one, Roku’s sculpture.

The statue exploded with a powerful wave of energy, throwing the acolyte back. He managed to lift his head up, only to notice weird flamelike light washing over this and all the other figures in the room. After a moment, the entire temple seemed to be flooded with this white-blue flame that did not burn anything.

 

* * *

 

Earth King Kuei observed how each and every shrine devoted to the Avatar emanated white beams of light. He saw only one directly, but the beams were visible from a great distance.

He remembered that something similar happened when the Avatar was reawakened for the first time in 100 years. He wondered what could have caused it this time. Then, he saw all of the illumination growing everywhere as well as the sky going haywire. And he got scared.

 

* * *

 

A little alien, resembling a small human with a frog head was holding onto a satellite. One of the countless members of a mid construction network of defence satellites ordered by no other than Prince Vegeta and Galactic King themselves. The frog however cared little for the network or the satellite at the moment, instead observing an island on the planet. It has drawn his attention, because it resembled a crescent moon.

And now, some light appeared in the middle of it.

“Hey, could you get useful for something and pass me that… Hey, what is that?”

It was his partner speaking, an insect like creature. Pointing at something near the horizon of the planet.

The frog had a look. It was a distant beam of light rising from the surface of the planet, like a giant laser. He then looked back in the direction in which he was staring before, and screamed.

A giant beam of light narrowly missed their satellite. The frog has closed his eyes for a moment. Only to then reopen them and gasp.

The entire planet was being covered by a tangled web of light. Clouds, streams, lines and threads have been spreading everywhere. Most likely originating from those beams, more of which kept appearing all over the globe.

“What the hell is going on down there?” His partner shouted.

 

* * *

 

Toph was baffled. Aang was still near Katara, his tattoos glowing. She was not sure if he was even conscious, or if it was another one of his ‘phases’ like that on the desert after he found out that Appa was sold. All of the world around them was going haywire. Her sight, although pretty well trained during the past few days, had a lot of trouble registering what was going on exactly. She could only tell that there was a lot of light and a lot of chaos.

And then, the time had stopped. Or at least if felt like it when Whis moved, pointing his staff at the Avatar. Then, it felt as if the entire world blinked. Short but blinding light, more intense than all of those other illuminations, then equally short and equally intense darkness, together lasting no longer than a split second.

Katara and Aang lied down on the snow. They both appeared to be sleeping. The weird lights have disappeared, allowing Toph to see the world around her yet again. Everyone just stood there, completely lost. With the exception of Sokka, who was sitting. Pan and Bulla were both blonde for some reason. All of the onlookers were gone, save for Hakoda, Malina and Maliq.

“What just happened?” Pan asked.

“I have put both of them to sleep.” Whis said. He then waved his staff shortly. The two teens began to float up, rotating to a horizontal position. When they were both about a meter high, a stretcher appeared under each. “Now, I will move them to the town hall. They should reawaken in a couple hours.” He added.

“I mean, what were those…” Pan tried again, but Whis interrupted her.

“I cannot talk about it right now. In short, I can say that Aang’s Avatar State went out of control, but I cannot explain how or why. Not yet, anyway, and not here.”

“Oh, okay…” Pan spoke.

“Just so you know:” Whis taxed the whole group as he spoke. “They have not been harmed. I could reawaken them immediately. However I believe that it will be better to let them sleep for now.” He then began to walk away, magically levitating the two stretchers next to him.

When he was passing by Hakoda, he stopped, turned towards him, looked at him for a moment, and then turned towards the group.

“Perhaps some of you could use some rest as well. And some time to think, before you are ready to speak to her again.” He refocused on Hakoda near the end.

“Y-yeah…” Hakoda stood there like a block of ice, staring numbly into the snow.

Toph moved over to Sokka, taking a short look at him. She then offered him a hand to help lift him up, which he took.

She felt Malina walking away. Nobody paid attention to her.

Maliq just sat there, looking around, still visibly terrified. He then clumsily stood up, and started to walk away. However, he noticed the briefcase and the papers lying in the snow, and changed his direction towards them.

“Not so fast.” Sokka spoke, grabbing his sleeve. “We are keeping those. And you will stay in the town until you are allowed to leave.”

“But... but…” Maliq was not looking very capable of speaking.

“We will ask you some questions. Then, you can go. We will keep the blueprints and use them on our own terms. If the Northern Water Tribe will have some problem with it, we will send them some oil barrels as payment. Because apparently that’s all they care about.” Sokka’s tone was stern.

“But, but… The North wanted some compensation for all the aid they are sending your way! What do you think, that all of this stuff comes free? You think that Zuko or Kuei will treat you any better? Ha! As if the damned Fire Lord could really be trusted to be our friend who wants nothing but to help us!” Maliq somehow managed to get annoyed. Toph could not really understand how he got his composure back so quickly.

“Did you really just said all of that? After all that has happened? You got some nerve…” Pan shook her head.

“Kuei won’t be giving anyone any bloody aid, cause he needs it himself. But I am pretty certain that Zuko won’t hesitate to support us. And the next time you say something bad about him, I will kick you all the way to the North Pole myself. Now piss off somewhere I can’t see you. And don’t try to run. You saw how we move. You won’t manage to make a step outside the town.” Sokka’s tone was growing more and more unpleasant as this speech went on. His aura reappeared as well. Maliq’s teeth started chattering. He then slowly backed away, only to run away in panic.

“I think you need to turn it off for good until we leave. We don’t need to scare the locals more than we already did.” Pan commented.

“Yeah, I guess so. Whatever…” His aura followed his dying tone.

A few seconds of silence.

“By the way, you can turn off the blonde as well.” Toph said. She managed to recall that this was that Super Saiyan power. Always some nice distraction from the relatively grim mood.

“Indeed…” Bulla sighed, her hair becoming normal blue again. Pan followed suit.

Sokka in the meanwhile walked over to his father, still standing there. Hakoda’s expression and posture shifted. Now he appeared deeply sad and equally deeply lost in thought.

“Dad… I know that what Katara did and said was horrible, but I don’t think that she meant any of it. I mean, most of it. She definitely hates your… sorry. I meant to say she probably does not want Malina around.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I…” Hakoda tried to speak. He then paused, closing his eyes. “I’m sorry, Sokka. I need some time alone.” He opened them again.

“I know…” Sokka murmured. Nobody else said anything.

Hakoda walked away. The group stood there for a few seconds, until he disappeared from sight behind some buildings.

“Well, I don’t want to come out as completely insensitive, but I would rather relocate to someplace warm and fuzzy.” Bulla said. “You guys can brood and flash sad faces in a bit more comfortable conditions.”

“Let’s go back to that restaurant. I am so hungry I could eat a whole seal right now.” Sokka said.

Bulla looked at him for a moment, raising her brows a little.

Toph noticed that, and spoke: “Don’t worry, he is not being thick-skinned, that’s just how he deals with stress.” She smiled faintly.

“Yeah. Thinking about food clears my head.” Sokka muttered.

“You could pass for a Saiyan...” Pan drawled.

“Lead the way.” Bulla cut in.

The entire group started walking back to town.

“By the way, maybe I should have mentioned that earlier, I was kind of distracted by Katara going full Queen of Darkness and you two blabbering about the politics, but... do you know that it is possible to visit the afterlife and talk to dead people directly?” Pan spoke, slightly faster. She looked down on the road, appearing a bit ashamed of herself.

Sokka turned to her slowly, his eyes wide.

“What?”

 

* * *

 

Aang was standing on the edge of an ice cliff. The sea was roaring a few dozen meters below. Some distance away there was another cliff, creating an ice canyon.

The sky was cluttered with weird white-blue clouds. They moved way faster than any normal clouds could, with many threads, lines and sparks of light flashing through them. As if there was both a raging storm among them, and a great light behind them. The land and the sea shined along with them in unison.

Aang could not really tell where he was right now, or why. The last thing he remembered was enraged Katara. Her maddened gaze, her loud tone. And all of that dark aura. He remembered how he embraced her and entered the Avatar State to try to stop her, but then, everything went dark.

For some reason, his own pain and fear related to this was completely absent. He remembered that those concerns should be there, but for a few seconds he did not feel anything. And then he grew fearful of this weird state of apathy. This new feeling has restored all the others.

For a moment he allowed himself to be washed over by them, the pain from her words, the fear of her changing for the worse and the worry for her safety. However, after some time, these emotions waned a bit, resurfacing the new unease that he now felt: where he was and why?

“You are in your dream, Aang. Apologies for meddling with your brain. I allowed myself the liberty of implanting this specific image onto you, when I made you and Katara fall asleep.” He heard a familiar voice.

Whis was standing next to him, staring into these weird clouds.

“What is this place?” Aang asked after a few seconds.

“It is your world. In fact, it’s not far from where we are currently positioned; near your Earth’s South Pole. On top of that, you have already seen this place, just from a different perspective.”

Whis pointed to something on their left side. Aang noticed a rupture in the wall on the opposite end. His memory then flashed in front of him. Reflecting a fireball flung at them by Zuko and Iroh, causing an avalanche to fall right onto the deck of their ship.

“Yes, precisely. Again, apologies for barging into your memories. I wanted to put you somewhere familiar to you, so that you can contrast it with what’s happening around us.”

Aang stood there for a moment, silent. He was indeed curious about the phenomenon around them. However, something else was troubling him more.

“Mr Whis, can you…” He hesitated a bit. It was obvious that the angel wanted to show him something, and he did not want to ignore it. But soon, his worry got the better of him: “What happened to Katara? What was that…” He paused again. He wanted to say ‘dark aura’, but he was not sure what that thing was even supposed to be.

Whis sighed. Then, he closed his eyes. Much to Aang’s dismay, he got surrounded by a similar darkness, that soon grew to appear alive, twirling around him. Some red and purple hues were visible between the black flames.

Whis opened his eyes and turned towards him. His gaze was mad, there was a small creepy smile on his face. Aang felt himself instinctively taking a step back.

Then, the angel’s mouth opened. He was about to speak. Aang heard something like: ‘I will now turn your entire life into endless suffering, yours and the people you love’, but he realised that it was his own voice in his head, spurred by his imagination going haywire.

“What you saw back then was an example of a dark aura, similar to the one currently around me. It appears when a person releasing their Chi has particularly malicious or disturbed state of mind. It can be summoned at will and controlled for an intimidation effect or an emotional Chi amplification, it can also be a result of one. However, in Katara’s case, it was completely unintended and out of control. It was caused by an immense emotional turmoil combined with a strong hatred.”

Whis’s tone was almost cheerful, and his face shifted into a gentle smile of a teacher. It was so out of sync with this terrible aura, that it made Aang almost dizzy after a while.

As if in response to that, the darkness disappeared. The fear Aang felt was gone with it.  Well, that part of his fear at least.

Whis looked at him for a few seconds.

“Please do not be too hard on your girlfriend for what she did or said in that state. As your friend Sokka said, she most likely did not mean what she was saying, as she was under extreme distress. I do trust his judgement on the matter, as he is her brother. And I also know something else: Katara fell victim to a self-sustaining cycle of her Chi empowering her emotions, which in turn empowered the Chi back.” He said that with a slightly more serious tone.

Aang looked at him.

“So, she felt more angry than she wanted to?”

“Precisely. And I doubt that she understood what was happening. As I mentioned, such a cycle can be forced to happen and used to for a power benefit, but only if the Chi user is in an extreme control of themselves. And again, Katara was far from controlling anything at that point.”

Aang looked back at the sea down the cliff. The fact that he now understood this whole dark aura thing made him feel a little bit better. He knew what came over her and that it was not permanent. That managed to weaken the pain and fear he felt.

He took some time to gaze upon the familiar cliff, thinking. He felt scared of talking to her now, but, as he said himself back then, he was not giving up on her.

After some time, he looked at the sky. His curiosity grew as the other feelings weakened.

“What is happening to the sky?” He asked.

“A softened version of what you did when you entered your Avatar State. Long story short, the Spirit World encompassing your planet is going crazy.” Whis responded.

“But why? Why it went crazy after I entered the Avatar State? I mean… Does my power being unsealed have something to do with it?” His tone went up a bit.

“Indeed it does. And so does your very nature in general. Please tell me, are you aware of it? Of your true nature? Do you know what your spirit, the Avatar Spirit, actually is?

Aang thought for a moment.

“I think so... “ He muttered. After a few seconds of silence, he continued: “But… I cannot put it into words. I think I know, I think I feel what I am supposed to be, but…”

“I can explain, if you want me to. Witnessing your Avatar State active allowed me to comprehend your being a bit more. Still, you should be able to understand it too: every time you enter your empowered state, you fully merge with your spirit and draw its power.”

Aang thought a bit further. The core of his Avatar Spirit was not something he could fully comprehend yet.

“I do remember some things, but not everything. I mostly recall the memories of my past lives…” He paused here. “And there are some other thoughts there, that I can’t understand at all. They are mine, but… alien. Non-human…” He shuddered a bit as he spoke that out loud.

“I see. Then perhaps I will try to shed some light onto that. Bear in mind that it is just a theory based on my current observations.” Whis spoke.

“That’s still more than I have… even though it’s my own spirit supposedly...” Aang grunted, a bit frustrated at that fact.

“Understanding yourself is often more difficult than understanding others.” Whis smiled. “Well then: I can say at least two things for sure. First of all, it seems that the spirit within you is connected to this planet. And I don’t just mean that it is its guardian deity or keeper of balance. Your soul, the Avatar Spirit, seems to be the soul of the planet itself.”

Aang was dumbfounded on this one. And then he felt a surge of images and emotions. He recalled some things he did not understand, either from his past lives or that weird part of his being, the spirit that shone through them. And many of them started to make sense.

“I am the bridge between worlds… because the Spirit World is my soul! Wait, does that mean that the spirits also are… no, they are alive on their own. And I felt…”

Heat, gravity, magnetism, air, water, fire, earth. All of these forces, materials and elements. But not as a human would experience them, but more like his own skin, his own feelings and his own wounds.

Some of the Avatars of the past seemed to understand it, now that he recalled the time they were connected together, but not all of them. And they rarely ever spoke of this to whomever happened to be the current Avatar. Aang was not surprised: that knowledge was so abstract it almost felt like a fantasy to him, not mentioning that it was not very useful in practice. Or was it…?

He thought about it for a bit more, and then something struck him.

“I do understand all of that now!” He almost shouted. “I should have always had a direct control over the entire planet and the Spirit World, but the sealing spell made it impossible to happen!”

He stopped again for a moment, his mouth gaping open. Now that he said it out loud, it sounded overwhelming. He did not notice Whis flashing a huge grin.

“I still feel like there are some parts of me that do not belong there…” He muttered. “I mean… all of it is really odd… I am an entire world, and yet a human…”

“Well, getting used to being a planet might feel a little awkward.” Whis chuckled. “But, you are right in a sense: there are parts of you that do not belong there.”

Aang focused on him again: “What do you mean?”

“You see, when the two spells were first created, they were supposed to be fed by the energy of the planet: in other words, by your energy. Your spirit probably existed in some shape or form when they were being cast: therefore, now they are a part of you. And I also know that when in Avatar State, you can directly control them.”

Aang was speechless.

“It’s possible because of the way you enter the State. Correct me if I am wrong, but you do unlock all the Chakras in order to accomplish that, do you not?” Whis stroked his chin.

“Yeah…” Aang responded.

“And you hopefully remember when I explained that…” The angel smiled.

“Unlocking all chakras allows you to control divine Chi.” Aang managed to recover his voice. “And those spells were made by the gods, using divine Chi.”

“Precisely. Now, the sealing spell was a reason why you were unable to fully utilise your true nature. It also prevented your direct intervention with itself to an extent. Although the Spirit World and the physical planet were not restricted by it, your access to their power was. Now however, you could exercise a more direct and controlled influence over both. And your Avatar State is the precise method to do so.”

Aang was speechless again.

“Now, I know that this is a lot to take in in a single go. However, I needed to tell you all of that so that you don’t accidentally damage your own world during further training. You can and should use your Avatar State safely, but not until you get a chance to meditate over it in peace. It should be relatively straightforward for you to wrest control of it, but not without understanding which parts of your Chi are strictly yours to use, and which parts comprise your world.”

“Yeah…” Aang muttered. This whole concept was still a bit overwhelming to him.

“Do not be afraid. It will be very similar to sensing and summoning your own Chi, which you have already demonstrated a capacity for.”

“Okay…” This sounded encouraging, but still…

“You should now rest for a bit. You still have an hour or two before you and Katara will wake up. In the meantime, I recommend a little exercise: try and calm down all of this chaos around us. It is your own mind after all, and wrestling control over it like this will aid you in commanding your power better. And again, do not worry too much over it. You have all the ability you need to keep your strength in check, it will just require a bit of practice.”

“I… Okay…” Aang grunted. He paused, and then gained some strength in his voice, as he added: “Thank you, Mr Whis.”

“My pleasure. Well then, see you later!” The angel smiled before dissipating in the air.

Aang remained there for a moment, motionless on the icy cliff. He then sat down. Soon, he realised that he did not feel any cold. Nor any moisture from the snow that should be melting under his touch.

It was hard for Aang to simply cast away the grim mood. But then again, he knew that he should not just sit there and brood. It was not helping anybody. He took some of Whis’s advice to heart and tried to meditate.

After a longer while, the sky began to calm down. The clouds have slowed down and withered, revealing some blue sky behind them. Now it was easier to recognise the scenery, since all of that unnatural light was replaced with a normal polar chiaroscuro.

Somewhat happy with this little success, Aang swam away into further meditations. Even though his soul was more peaceful now, his mind still tried to bolt between Katara’s current state and this revelation about his unusual nature.

 

* * *

 

Katara was staring at a wall.

She was lying down on a stretcher placed on the floor. It was surprisingly soft and comfy, almost like lying on top of a sleeping bag. The room she was placed in was warm and well furnished. There were a few sofas and cabinets in it, all pushed away from the centre of the room where she was lying.

For a moment she did not even question this situation. Her mind was blank and fuzzy. She enjoyed the warmness of this stretcher sleeping bag and wondered where it was the last time where she saw a room decor such as this.

And then she recalled something. Dad’s office in the town hall, part of the ongoing reconstruction of the Southern Water Tribe. The courtesy of the Northern Water Tribe, represented by the two visitors: Malina and Maliq.

Malina. Maliq. Plans. Construction. South. North. All of this started to bring back her memories.

Refinery. Ice. Snow. Sokka. Anger. Screams. Tension. The whole scene started to play out in her head. She felt warmth flooding her body, but it was not a pleasant warmth. Closer to a fever, or a rush one feels when utterly terrified. And then more.

Mom. Malina. Anger. Betrayal. Dad. Dark. Light. Aang. Aang was the last thing she remembered. The last words he said, the embrace. Those would be very beautiful words.

If not for the reason they were spoken.

Tears started flowing from her eyes. A few seconds later, they were followed by the sobs. Her vision became blurry from tears. She closed and opened her eyes a few times reflectively to clear them, but to no avail. Not that it mattered, really. She just kept them closed after a few attempts.

Soon after, she felt touch. Someone lifted her up from the stretcher into a half sitting position. She felt an embrace. She lifted her head a bit, and opened her eyes. Tears slowed down. This allowed her to look straight into her father’s eyes.

She quickly averted her sight. She tried to speak.

“I’m so… I’m so… I’m so sorr…” she could even finish even that short phrase.

“Shhh, it’s alright, it’s alright.” Her dad responded. His voice was soft and soothing.

“I don’t know why I… I… I didn’t want to… I didn’t mean to…” All felt like lies. She knew why, she knew what she wanted, and she knew what she meant. And it was really bad.

“I’m not mad at you, honey. Please stop, stop crying, Or I will start to.” A soft, but weary tone.

Katara looked at him again. She saw better now. He smiled slightly, but his eyes looked really sad.

“But I... but I…”

“Lashed out when being very angry at something that I did not understand and that made me feel shocked and betrayed.” Hakoda spoke for her, quite slowly. “You are not the first person to do that in our family. If I did half the things I said after your mom died, I would be the worst mass murderer in the Fire Nation history.” He looked away from a moment, probably pondering on that old memory.

This gave Katara’s sobs a pause, almost making her chuckle. Still, it allowed her to speak a bit clearer.

“I was such a child… A spoiled little girl who thought she had it the worst... A dumbass teen who thought no one understands her…”

“All teens think like this. If they are lucky and don’t have any serious problems. It was the first time in all those years when you felt close to that. If your mom came back, you could think a bit more about your own needs as opposed to everyone else’s.”

“But I should care about everyone! It’s the right thing to do! I should not put my needs in front of my family’s, it’s so selfish…”

“Hey, it’s alright to be selfish every now and again. If you thought of yourself a bit more, you would not miss it so much and get so angry back then.”

Katara paused for a moment.

“Heh, it’s even silly to think that something like this came through my mind… When thinking about mom...” Another pause. “I miss her so much…”

“You and me both…” Now he paused for a while. “Man, now this is embarrassing. I thought I will be moving on with my life, that I can be with someone again. But then you dropped this little bombshell at me. And right after that, another one.”

“I’m sorry… I… I should not mess around with your life so much…” She muttered, ashamed.

“It’s not your fault, honey. It’s hard, no… it’s impossible to anticipate something like this.” He paused again. “Dragon Balls, huh. And suddenly death has no consequence. I didn't even want to believe it at first. This, or this whole story about gods and aliens. But after what I saw near that refinery, I am willing to believe anything.”

He paused here for a moment.

“I was really scared back then. That something has happened to you, that I can do nothing about. And I am still scared. I was not there when you were hurt by that alien. Nor when you heard the judgement on our world. The worst thing is, I won’t be able to help you anymore. I don’t know what I can do against… against them.”

“You can help me. You just did. I… thank you.” Katara muttered, still with weak voice. Still, she felt better. For now. At least until she had to face Sokka and Aang.

And then she saw his face. Aang was sitting near the wall, staring at his own thumbs.

She felt another rush of that unpleasant heat. But only for a moment. Aang noticed her gaze, smiled and moved to embrace her.

“I…”

“Shhh, easy. Your dad said pretty much everything that I wanted to say. And some more.”

“I really do care what you want or say!” She managed to finish. “I don’t know what came over me, you were right back then!”

“Don’t worry… I’m not mad at you. You did nothing wrong...” He said softly.

“It’s not true, and you know it. I was such a huge jerk…” She responded.

Aang chuckled uncomfortably. After a few seconds, he went on. “Okay, maybe you were. Actually, it was kind of like more than you think you did. This whole aura you released made you angrier than you wanted to be.”

Katara paused here. It sort of matched something that happened during one of the trainings. She could not pinpoint it now though. All she managed to say was:

“It... it did?”

“Yeah. Whis told me that Chi can do something like this when the person using it is very disturbed. Your own aura would make you more angry… on top of anything that made you angry in the first place.”

“Oh...” Katara was not sure what to think of this. “Well, maybe I was not as much of a jerk as I thought I was… Still...” She still felt that it was mostly her fault.

“Now, now. Some creepy Chi aura is not an excuse for bad behaviour, young lady.” Her dad spoke.

“Yeah, we should watch out a bit more about what we do and how we feel. Whis said it can be a self-propelling cycle, or something like that.” Aang muttered.

Katara smiled lightly. Being able to smile was a very welcome improvement. “Aang, I think my dad was trying to joke.”

Aang’s face became dumbfounded. He then quickly smiled uncomfortably and faked a laugh.

“Oh, come on, it was not THAT bad.” Hakoda exclaimed.

“Yeah, I know. Sokka would have laughed.” Katara said.

“That was not a compliment...” Her dad muttered, while Aang chuckled for real.

“Speaking of Sokka, I think I need to apologise to him too...” Katara said, now her tone shifting to an ashamed one.

“Well, as far as I know him I don’t think he will be mad at you, but it is true that you need to.” Her dad said.

“Well, we should not keep him waiting then.” Aang spoke, smiling. Both he and Hakoda stood up, and they prompted Katara to do the same, helping her up.

“You kids go on ahead. I have some things to take care of.” Hakoda muttered, his smile dissipating. “See you soon.” He added, hugging his daughter again for a short moment, and then leaving the room.

Katara and Aang soon followed his example.

 

* * *

 

Aang walked towards a restaurant. He knew where to go, thanks to his Chi sense. It was the only place in town where there were any powerful entities.

He held Katara’s hand, feeling relaxed. Initially, when she woke up, he was kind of scared of how she would act. He still felt a bit hurt about what she said as well. However, seeing her cry like this into her father’s arms melted him down completely.

Now, he was curious how would the rest of the group take it. He imagined that Azula, Bulla and Pan were not really invested into the situation bar any potential physical harm that could happen to someone on site (In Azula’s case that ‘someone’ naturally included only herself). However, Toph and Sokka would most likely be stung by that comment about ‘pretending to be everyone’s mom’. He hoped that they were not too mad at her.

Katara herself seemed a bit nervous. Her tears dried up long ago, her eyes were almost back to normal, but he could feel that she was still at unease.

They reached the building and approached the door.

Aang reached for the knob, but then looked at Katara again. She stopped a few steps away from the door, pulling his hand a little bit back. He turned towards her, releasing the door.

“It’s alright.” He muttered. “These are your friends and family. They will understand.”

Katara stood there for a moment. “Y-yeah.” Short pause, and then: “Yeah, okay.” with a bit stronger tone.

She moved rapidly towards the door and placed her hand on the knob. After a second of hesitation, she opened it.

Sokka was standing a few meters away from the entrance, facing her directly and smiling mischievously, with his arms folded. Toph and Pan stood besides him.

Katara walked in towards him. Aang followed after her, closing the door behind him.

“Well then, do you have anything to say, my dear sister? An apology perhaps?” Spoken with overly emphasized tone.

Katara reacted almost immediately.

“I’m so sorry, everyone… I’m sorry I was so monstrous and hateful… I…” She hesitated in the end.

“Nah, you weren’t monstrous. You were a whiny teenager on dark energy steroids. We talked with Whis about it.” Pan spoke, smiling.

“Yeah, but she did throw me around a bit… Wasn’t that a bit monstrous?” Sokka started to speak.

“Oh, come on, don’t be mean.” Pan interrupted, chuckling. She pushed him forward, right into Katara. Sokka sighed loudly, and embraced his sister, now smiling normally. The two girls followed suit and joined the hug.

“Jeez, guys, you gave us quite a scare. Good to see you back on your feet.” Pan spoke, looking at Aang over Katara’s shoulder.

“Thanks…” Katara appeared a bit confused. The group disengaged from the hug, the trio facing her. “You are not mad at me?” She asked.

“Not me.” Toph said, smiling. “Hey, I quite welcome the day when you stop pretending to be my mom. Feel free to do that anytime.”

Katara dropped her nose.

“I don’t mind. I can live with you pretending to be my mom.” Sokka said. “Although, if I knew that it pisses you off so much, I would do some of the mom stuff myself. Oh, I know!” He raised his finger up in the air. “From now on, I will wash my own socks.”

“Haha, no you won’t, you don't even know how to wash clothes.” Toph commented, chuckling.

“How can someone not know how to do that…” Pan muttered.

“Shouldn’t you be washing all of your own garments anyway, you chauvinistic swine?” A voice could be heard from the back of the room. Bulla was sitting by the table, smiling at them in her favourite princely manner. Next to her was Azula, who was observing them with an enigmatic expression. She seemed to be smiling faintly, but her eyes were cold.

“Hey, I had other things to attend to. The food did not hunt itself, for example.” Sokka shouted at her.

“What a lowlife. No wonder you were so pissed, Katara. Next time he tries to make you wash his stuff, throw more dark aura at him. I will show you how to do that efficiently.” Bulla snarked at Sokka and then spoke to the waterbender girl.

“I don’t think I will want to learn about it. I don’t want to use this kind of power ever again.” Katara looked quite disgusted with the idea.

“You won’t have a choice. As Whis said, you will need to understand both dark and light aspects of Chi in order to awaken godly powers.” Bulla responded.

Katara looked at the floor again. Pan looked at Bulla, and spoke:

“Understanding it is not the same as using it, princess. Katara merely needs to know how it feels.”

“And what better way there is to learn ‘how it feels’ than to willingly deploy it in real life situation? This little hissy fit could not have taught her that.” Bulla snarked at her. Sokka, who loosely paid attention to their verbal spat, now spoke before Pan did.

“Who cares about that now. We will cross that bridge when we get to it. Katara, instead of thinking about dark powers, better grab some good news: we will be seeing mom again!” Sokka exclaimed.

This gave Katara a pause for a good while.

“Wait, but, didn’t you say that we shouldn’t bring her back? That it’s up to dad, and that it is not fair to everyone else in the Tribe?” She spoke calmly, but barely. It was clear that there was a great turmoil in her again.

“Yeah, I did, and now speaking of it, I might have picked the worst possible time to mention it back then, which I do apologise for, but all of this doesn't matter, because we don’t even need to bring her back to meet with her!” Sokka half-murmured most of this speech up until the last part, where he almost screamed.

Katara looked at him, confused.

“Wait, what?...”

“Gods and sufficiently powerful mortals can travel directly to the Other World to visit the lands of the dead. The Other World is not exactly accessible from normal space, you can’t just fly in there, but with sufficient training you can sense the souls living in there. And you already know of an ability that can teleport you towards a Chi signature.” Bulla explained.

Aang had to move in to grab Katara, as she appeared to almost faint for a moment. She supported herself on him to maintain balance.

“That’s right. And also, both Whis and the Supreme Kais can teleport just about anywhere, even between dimensions. And Whis naturally can find your mom in the afterlife with his staff, because he can find pretty much anything in it.” Pan added.

“There, you see? We already talked about it with him, he will take all three of us there for a visit. Me, you and dad. And then, once we learn the Instant Transmission, we can just visit mom anytime we want!” Sokka said.

Katara took a few seconds to catch her breath again, before she looked back at Sokka and asked: “When?”

“Whenever we want. Whis will pick us up when we are ready.” Sokka responded.

Katara stood there for a good few seconds, processing. Only to then  turn to Sokka with new enthusiasm brightening up her face and speaking: “Can we go now? Where is he?”

“He said he wanted to take a look at a nearby restaurant’s menu. Let’s go and find him!” Sokka said.

 

* * *

 

Sokka, Katara and Whis walked towards the town hall. As the angel have agreed to this trip even before Katara came back, there was little talking to be done. All they needed to do now was to find their dad. Sokka have suggested the town hall as the most likely place for him to stay, only for Whis to confirm it with his Chi sense.

Soon, they have entered the building and found the room he was sitting in. He was alone at his desk, staring at some paperwork. Sokka noticed these to be some of Maliq’s secret papers. Sokka’s mood dropped a bit at the unpleasant memory. And a bit more at noticing his father’s face, visibly tired out and sad.

Well, what could be better to improve the atmosphere than to get him away from them?

“Dad, we are here!”

Hakoda lifted his head up, looking at the trio that has entered his office. He appeared to be almost absentminded.

“Oh, hello there, kids. Greetings, Mr Whis.” He said.

“Welcome, Chief Hakoda.” Whis responded.

“Dad, it’s time. We are going to visit mom, we just came to pick you up. Come on, let’s not keep her waiting!” Sokka said enthusiastically.

However, his father reacted in the exact opposite manner he was hoping for. Instead of brightening up and walking over to them energetically, he seemed to degrade into sadness even further.

There was a short pause, before Katara broke it.

“What’s wrong dad, aren’t we going?”

Hakoda took a few seconds to respond, processing something.

“I’m... I’m sorry, kids. I don’t think I am ready for that. You go on ahead without me.”

“What? Why?” Katara’s tone have risen up. She then shivered a bit, and asked a bit more calmly: “I mean… What’s wrong?”

Another pause.

“You know, it has been so long… I never really expected something like that to happen. I’ve kind of written Kya off, only to learn that I can see her again. Right after I’ve decided to give it a go and try and love another woman… A woman who may or may not have been using me the whole time…” He paused here again. “I don’t think I am ready to face your mother like this. I still need to sort out this mess here. What to do about these two, and especially Malina. You know, we have been together for quite a while before you arrived...”

“It’s alright, dad. You need time to deal with all of that. Do not worry, I know that mom will understand. Hell, I will be able to ask her personally if she does, so I will know for sure!” Sokka exclaimed.

“Sokka…” Katara muttered at him with some hint of annoyance.

“It’s alright, Sokka, you don’t need to do this for me. It’s something me and her need to have a chat about. You just go to her and be happy. I will get another chance later.”

“Well, yeah… assuming that Mr Whis will want to…” Sokka said.

“I will, do not worry about it.” Whis interrupted him. “Naturally, I would have been happier if the two of you could do it by yourself, but I think I can do another round or two until that happens.”

“You see? Nothing to worry about.” Hakoda said, managing to flash them a smile. “Go now. Don’t keep your mom waiting.”

Katara looked at him for a moment, before jumping on and giving him a hug. Sokka joined her immediately.

They stayed like this for a few seconds. Sokka did not really know what to say, and probably no one in the room did. Soon, they moved away from their father, and back to Whis. His facial expression was quite enigmatic, neither a smile, nor frown.

“Please hold on to my arms.” He said.

They did as he asked.

“Give your mom my regards.” Hakoda said. “Tell her I will see her soon.”

“We will!” Sokka said, with a bit louder tone than usual. Now it was his time to get nervous.

“Ok, are you ready?” Whis said.

“Yes!” Both of them responded. Katara’s voice was a bit higher-pitched than usual.

“Ok then, we are off! See you later, Mr Hakoda!” Whis said.

Sokka felt as if something was wrong. Normally, when Whis travelled, he was taking them outside, as they supposedly travelled through space, just really fast. However, now they were in a building. Sokka heard the word ‘teleport’ being called for this kind of travelled, which inferred a different mechanism to his usual ‘flying’ style, but he still felt an urge to leave before commencing any travel. It made sense to him not just because of supernatural ways of moving around, but also because of the normal ones. They hardly even rode Appa from inside a room, for example.

“Mr Whis, don’t we need to…” He started the question.

The reality in front of him suddenly changed. Not just disappeared, but rather behaved like an image that suddenly moved towards him and stretched out, focusing into a little point of dark. That point very quickly grew all around them.

For a moment, they were surrounded by darkness. Sokka could still feel and see Whis and Katara. This feeling was stronger than ever, making him believe in Chi a bit more. There was literally nothing else around: as if nothing else ever existed.

Except for movement. Sokka felt as if they were moving somewhere through nothingness. And then, another image of reality appeared in front of him. Sokka felt thrown into it, except there was no momentum. He was splattered on a painting of a weird green glade under the starry night sky.

Except the glade felt as if it was illuminated by a sunset. Except that there was no sun to be seen. On top of that, the stars were much brighter and more numerous than those of any sky he had seen. There were a lot of shooting stars, as well as some weird lines that for a lack of a better word resembled very slow lighting strikes, or perhaps cracks in the sky. The horizon was illuminated by a golden glow, which appeared to be coming from the planet itself.

This place, this image, suddenly became his reality. He existed now within it, breathed the fresh air and smelled something that was pleasant, but hard to describe. He heard a small whisper of wind and observed a lot of lights scattered on the fields in front of them. He looked for a moment and noticed numerous buildings, all basked in the same golden sunset-like glow. Each of them was different, Sokka could not even pretend to guess what architectural style those were supposed to be. Some of them very stacked densely next to each other, forming towns and cities, while some were scattered far away from the rest.

He now noticed one partially hidden behind a hill. They were standing on a slope, looking upwards, and the building was a few dozen meters away from them on the opposite side. He then noticed someone walking towards them, from it’s direction. Katara has been staring at nothing but that person the whole time, with her mouth partially open. Sokka focused his attention on them.

And then he felt as if time has stopped.

Only to be partially hooked back to reality by Whis speaking up.

“I will head back to your world for now. When you are ready to go back, just speak my name out loud to the sky, I will respond.”

With this, the angel disappeared. He was showered by a short outburst of perfectly vertical light, before vanishing. Normally, Sokka would be curious to learn about it more, about what just happened to them and then to him, but now there was something else on his mind. Pushing everything else away.

He stared at his mother, for the first time in eight years. He thought himself a reasonable guy who can keep his emotions in check, and who only believes in what he can see and what he can prove.

And now he did not believe what he saw. His mother, who was supposed to be gone forever, was right here, in this dreamy land, and all of his thoughts and beliefs were doing a dragon dance all over his head. Nothing made sense anymore. His eyes teared up. He supposedly knew all of that before he arrived here, but only now the full weight of it struck him. The weirdest feeling that he could somehow still make sense of (even though it made no sense) was how alien her face felt to him. He had forgotten that face. For many years past, Katara was his mother, and whenever he tried to recall her, he saw only Katara. However, now, he saw this person, he clearly knew who it was supposed to be, he recognised her instantly. His mind kept telling ‘mom’, some part of his kept trying to convince him that it was Katara who was supposed to be there, and yet the sight in front of him kept smashing that part with a sledgehammer. Not Katara anymore, Kya, Hakoda’s wife. Their mother. Dead for 8 years, now present right there. Still dead, but who cared, death meant nothing when gods were around. Yay, say hello to cuckoo land, we don’t do logic anymore here. Everyone is perfectly alive when dead in the afterlife. Except them, who were alive. Okay.

Katara looked more or less as emotionally wrecked as him. She teared up, her face twisted as if from long crying, but still looking more bright and hopeful than Sokka has even seen. Paying attention to that was much better than trying to make sense of his own head right now.

The woman on the hill walked towards them, likely having noticed their arrival. Interestingly enough, there was no surprise on her face. She also had tears in her eyes, but looked way more calm than either of them. Sokka would pay some attention to that, if his brain was not a mush.

“Mom!” Katara screamed. She then disappeared from Sokka’s sight. No, she just moved near instantly, for a moment forgetting about her new powers. She managed to halt in front of the startled Kya, before jumping at her at normal speed and hugging her, crying out loud.

Sokka followed her example, except he moved normally. That much mental effort he could manage, before he started crying as well into his mother’s arm.

 

* * *

 

It took a very long while before they managed to produce something comparable to articulate speech. Sokka was not sure what he spoke or thought during this time, but he was sure it must have been silly. Still, he could not even dare hope to hold a candle to Katara, who was half-chattering and half-choking on her own tears all the way through their entire history. He was quite certain that anyone else listening to them blabbering like this for what felt like an eternity would have lost their sanity by now.

But not her. Not their mom. She listened patiently. She understood, as always. She even commented or asked them about some details. It felt so natural to him now, her being here, as if she had never left. All that he felt back then was coming back to him now.

Soon after, they stopped chattering. They just sat there, staring at this weird sky. Living this moment as much as they could. Sokka could not believe how beautiful this place looked.

Then, their mother started to talk. She decided to tell them a bit about it all, this afterlife land. Sokka heard a few stories about all the people from different ages and places, some infinitely old and alien and some quite familiar, and yet distant. There were more humans from their world here, including their both grandfathers and second grandmother, whom Kya was in regular contact with, as well as many other individuals from all nations and times.

They heard about all the weird creatures lingering about. Fairies, ghosts, angels and demons. Sokka was a bit surprised to find out that there were more species of angels than that of Whis. And even more surprised to learn that their mother was more or less familiar with the gods and their hierarchy. She knew who Beerus and Whis were, as well as knew the Supreme Kais, lesser Kais and a myriad of deities below them, called Planetary Guardians. She was also personally acquainted with a number of supernatural creatures, including a few of the demons. Contrary to their name, they were not evil at all, more akin to a police/servant force guarding the area, mostly comprised of members of a demon sub-species called ogres.

She then began to speak a bit more of the land itself. Sokka was just happy to listen to her voice, as Katara was most likely, but these stories helped him in another way: he was slowly coming back to his senses, as he paid attention to all the details of this unusual world. It also helped that the topics covered were both quite abstract and interesting, at least to him. He found himself slowly wondering how all of that exactly worked.

Their mom turned her attention from the land to the sky.

“And as for the stars, they are also not what they seem at the first glance. You see, each of them is a world, just like this one we are in now.”

“Woow…” Katara kind of looked like a little girl discovering the world for the first time.

“All of them? They are planets?” Sokka gasped.

“Yes. You see, each and every person in heaven can have a little world to themselves if that is their wish. The smallest stars often have just one person living on them. The big ones are more like this world, with many people living together… And every time there is a shooting star, it means that a new world has been born.” Kya explained.

Katara gazed at all of that with her mouth wide open. Sokka instead felt a surge of his usual logic coming back, as some of it now noticed a problem.

“How do they even fit all of these new worlds in there? It already looks crowded on this sky! Do they move them around to make space for more?”

Katara was now blasted away from her little girl mood, as she looked at Sokka with annoyance, muttering: “Do you really have to ruin this now…”

Their mom chuckled, before answering.

“Sweetie, most of these are very far away from each other. I heard that one can choose where their star will be, be it very close to another one, or far away from everything else. I also heard that we see way more clearly than on a normal sky, and way further.”

“Huh, that would make sense. We would be tricked by perspective here.”

“Sokka, please stop…” Katara moaned.

“Katara, please stop…” Her mom mocked her playfully.

“Nooo… Don’t take his side...”

“I don’t take anyone’s side here. Let your brother satisfy his curiosity. He must be going out of his mind here.”

“Kinda… but I think I am getting used to it. We were on Beerus’s planet that looks like a giant pyramid upside down with a tree on top, surrounded by seven moons bigger than Earth. I guess I can live with the infinite star-worlds that appear on demand.”

“That’s good to hear. Remember, one question at a time, sweetie, or you will get confused.” Kya said. After a pause, she added. “I wish I could see Lord Beerus’s world in person. Especially at a moment when some of those planets get destroyed. That must look amazing from up close. It already did from here when all seven got blasted by your friend.”

Sokka looked at her, confused. She just recalled something she had no right to be around for.

“Wait, you kind of say it as if you saw it?...”

Katara was also confused.

“I kind of don’t remember telling you about it…”

Their mom smiled uncomfortably.

“That is because you did not, sweetie. but I saw it. I did not want to mention it before, but I kind of knew everything that has been happening to you this entire time.”

Both sibling’s eyes were now wide.

“Everything? Like, all eight years?” Sokka asked.

“All of it. Well, most. Don’t worry, honey. I will show you how I know and see things I am not around for.”

She then stood up, holding both Katara’s and Sokka’s hands, pulling them upwards. She then led them downhill towards the house that Sokka saw earlier. He did not pay much attention to it before, as they were turned away from it and their mom spoke of housings down the hill instead.

After getting closer to it, Sokka could not help but be completely baffled by its shape. It resembled a dome, kind of igloo-like but much larger, with two rectangular buildings attached to it, together forming a shape of L. They had flat roofs that served as terraces, with some furniture scattered on top of them. The entire building was plastered white and had large glass windows. What got Sokka’s attention the most was its size: it was larger than any igloos they ever lived in, matching some of the houses in the new town. The way they used to live in an igloo, it would be enough to shelter about 50 people, if not more.

Their mom led them to a door right between the two wings. After entering, they both gasped. The main dome strongly resembled their an igloo interior. At least at the first glance. There were multiple everyday items related to the Water Tribes scattered everywhere, such as pots, spears, furs or simple wooden furniture. The walls were covered with leather stretched out on wooden scaffoldings. Whilst in an igloo they served to prevent water from melting walls to drop onto the inhabitants, here they were most likely just pure decoration.

This was the initial feeling. However, Sokka quickly noticed that there were multiple items you would not find in an igloo. Firstly, a wooden roof and a staircase leading to a second floor. Secondly, multiple pieces of complex, if not downright alien furniture, including glass tables and glass cabinets as well as glass… constructs made of multiple shelves connected with metal pillar in very irregular patterns: all for the Water Tribe props to stand or lie on. The middle of the room had a fireplace, but it was surrounded by chairs that would suit Hakoda’s office in his new town hall. They were covered by furs, which suited an igloo yet again. The whole interior was illuminated by a gentle fire light, but Sokka then noticed that it did not come from the fireplace, but rather from a set of crystals positioned around it. He then noticed switches and buttons on it’s wall. Probably responsible for those lights.

The more he looked at it, the more it resembled the interior of a Frieza Force spaceship decorated Water Tribe style.

“Wow, this place is…” He muttered in awe.

“I know, right? I could not believe it myself when they showed it to me the first time around.” Kya responded, smiling. Katara just gasped loudly.

Their mother led them upstairs, to another room in this weird alien-tribal style, and then through a door to one of the terraces.

The terrace’s decor was a bit different. Here most of the furniture was made of stone. There were walls instead of railings, and they were all bench shaped and covered with wooden planks to sit on. A stone table was placed on the far end of the terrace, in such a way that a person sitting on the wall benches could use it.

On this table, there stood a weird orb on a small pedestal. Sokka could not say really what it was made of, as it resembled a whirlwind of thin clouds constantly in motion. He could see the other side of the table through it. When he stared into it for a while, the clouds started getting more thick.

“Watch your step, honey.” He heard his mother speak.

Indeed, he almost walked into a stone and wood chair. He moved around it and sat on it, still staring into the orb. Katara and Kya sat on the wall bench.

“What is that thing?” He heard Katara speak. He turned away from the orb and noticed her to be staring into it as well.

“This is an all-seeing orb. I got it from an old ogre sage living nearby.” Their mom responded.

“An all-seeing orb?” Sokka was a bit baffled.

“Yes, honey. I can see anything that is currently happening anywhere in the world with it.” She said.

“And that sage just gave it to you? Doesn’t he need it himself?” Sokka was still baffled.

“He does, but he just created himself another one. I think he gave it to me because he was annoyed with me constantly bugging him to take a look. Either that, or he gave in to my womanly charms and presented it to me as a gift.” She smiled mischievously at the end.

“Maybe a bit of both…” Katara said, also smiling. She was staring into the orb, apparently fascinated by it, but still listening to her mother talking.

“Perhaps.” Kya chuckled a little. “Still, one way or the other, I was able to keep an eye on you ever since… I was gone.” She spoke, stuttering a bit at the end. Her mood dropped. Katara turned away from the orb and looked at her.

“It must have been hard for you…” Sokka spoke.

“Yes, it was. I wanted so badly to meet you and speak to you again. I wanted to tell you that I am alright here. That I am so proud of you, of how you managed to go on, how you kept helping your father and each other. But… I could not do anything but watch.” She looked sad for the first time since they got here. Katara embraced her. Sokka, after a moment, moved from his chair to the bench and hugged her too.

“Still, I went on. I had no choice, really. The moment I got here, I had to check on you if you were alright, after that raid. And then, I could not stop watching. I had to know what was happening to you.” She spoke.

Sokka did not really know what to say. They were all silent for a good while. Their mom look at each of them, and then she suddenly brightened up.

“Hey, don’t be so gloom. It was not that bad. I still got to see you in the end. And some moments were fun to watch. Like when you were on fishing, or hunting trips, or when you practiced your waterbending…” She looked at Katara at this part. “And I could not believe my eyes when the two of you found Aang in the iceberg.”

“Heh, yeah. Or that he was the long lost Avatar, the last airbender. I couldn’t believe it either. For a good while.” Sokka said.

“Yeah, you even banished him for conspiring with the Fire Nation. An airbender.” Katara spoke mockingly to him, strongly emphasizing ‘airbender’.

“Hey, you two did alert the Fire Nation and got Zuko on our heads. I had every right to be suspicious.” Sokka grunted in response.

“And if your sister went in there alone and triggered that trap? Would you banish her as well?” His mom spoke, smiling.

Sokka opened his mouth, and then stayed like this for a couple seconds.

“Well…”

“Oh, drop it. What else did you see of our travels?” Katara spoke first to Sokka, then to Kya.

“Pretty much everything. As much as I could. I also kept an eye on your dad and on our village. Still, dad was on a boat or hiding ashore most of the time, staying out of trouble almost all the time. You however… you were almost always in trouble. The Kyoshi island, that prison ship, Jet and his band, Northern Water Tribe, the swamp... I doubt that there was any peaceful moment in your life until you reached Ba Sing Se.”

“Well, we were chased by Zuko and the Fire Nation most of the time. Ba Sing Se was the only place they couldn’t reach… sort of...” Sokka now recalled both Zuko and Azula staying undercover, most likely under their noses the whole time.

“Mom, speaking of swamp…” Katara spoke, her tone kind of cautious. “When we were there, we saw a lot of weird things. Sokka saw Yue and Aang saw Toph. When I was there, I think…” She paused here for a bit. “I think I saw you. Do you… did you…” Katara stopped, looking at Kya.

Their mother was silent for a moment. Sokka never saw her with this kind of expression before. She gazed at the orb, serious and focused, and yet kind of confused.

“I looked at all three of you there. You, Sokka and Aang. This orb can do that, show multiple images at the same time. I can also hear your voices, as well as all sounds from your surroundings. And what I saw there… is difficult to describe.”

“Why, what did you see?” Sokka said.

“The easiest is Aang. I saw Toph, just as he did. I saw him first, noticed him chasing someone and tried to follow that someone. Orb easily listened, and just showed me the girl he saw, who looked like Toph. It was not her though. She kept appearing and disappearing in different places for a moment, before vanishing completely. To be fair, I almost didn’t care about her past one such teleportation. I knew she wasn’t real.”

“Wait, how did you know?” Sokka asked.

“She left no traces on the ground, and her clothes were not stained from the water and mud. And also, you know, teleportation.” Her voice was almost mocking near the end, albeit in a playful manner.

“Oh yeah, that…” Sokka said.

“But why didn’t you care about it? Wouldn’t a ghost seen up close feel creepy?” Katara asked.

“You just asked that question to a dead soul, honey. Technically dead, from your point of view.” Kya spoke, now fully embracing a playful mocking tone.

“Well…” Katara looked baffled.

“Haha, I am just kidding. Besides, I have seen ghosts before. Remember Nini? I saw her, and not only when I was a girl, but also through this orb. She keeps popping up in the same spot, a bit further away to the south of the town. And she flickers in and out of existence, just as this ghost Toph did.”

“Wait, so that story was real? She really does exist?” Sokka said, now freaking out a bit.

“Yes. Poor girl, she is stuck there. I met her family here and we all asked the ogres if she could be pulled to us, but they say that King Enma almost never listens to such requests. He is supposedly too busy with judging the dead.” Now her tone was sad.

“King Enma? Judging the dead?” Katara asked, looking how Sokka felt: baffled.

“Yes, he is the first person you meet when you die. After you get through a queue of trillions of souls, that is. He can send you to one of the many realms of the afterlife.” She shuddered a bit here, as if recalling an unpleasant memory. “But that’s not important right now. Let’s get back to the swamp. As I said, Aang and his ghostly friend felt the least weird to me. The two of you however…”

“What happened?” Katara asked.

“What did you see?” Sokka followed her.

 “Let’s start with you.” She turned towards her son. “For a good while there was nothing around you. Then, you found that beam of light. You walked towards it and talked to it, but there was nothing within it. However, when I looked at you more carefully, something flickered. I heard a voice saying ‘You didn’t protect me’, and this flicker grew into a darkness, both around you, and behind you. You turned back and fell down to the floor out of fear, surrounded by something that felt dark. But then, you got up and drew your weapon. And all of that darkness disappeared.”

She stopped, lost in thought. The two of them were also silent. Sokka felt a little shiver.

“I did not understand what I saw there. At least, not until recently. Still, the weirdest was your vision, Katara.”

“Why? What happened?” Katara woke up.

“When I looked at you, for a moment, nothing was happening. You wandered around and called your friends. But then, you focused onto something and started speaking to it. I looked at it myself and saw an old trunk, but you kept talking to it as if it were a person. Then, you said ‘mom’. And although it was almost a whisper the first time you said that, I heard it more clearly than your shouts before. You walked towards the trunk and shouted, then started to run, and it sounded differently to anything I usually hear from the orb.”

She paused here.

“Normally, when I hear voices from the orb, it’s as if the orb itself was speaking. I hear them in front of me. But your voice, it felt as if it was behind me. The sounds of the swamp echoed, as if they were all around me. Then, you walked over to the trunk and I could swear I heard your muddy steps right behind me. Then, you touched that trunk, and I felt a touch on my left shoulder. I flinched and looked behind me, but there was no one there. I turned back towards the orb, but the vision was gone. When I summoned your image, you were walking away, and I heard everything normally.”

She paused here. Katara looked completely dumbfounded.

“Wait, so you were that trunk?” Sokka asked.

“I don’t know. I tried calling out to Katara afterwards a few times, but nothing has happened at all. I was told it would never work, and that this orb can only see and hear things happening right now, but… it did feel as if I was there for a moment. And yet it didn’t. I was certain that I was sitting at a table and staring at an orb, but…”

“What did you have on that day?” Katara asked.

“What? What do you mean, honey?”

“What did you put on. The clothes and the haircut.” Katara said.

“Ah, my hair was exactly the same as today.” Sokka paid attention to it a little. Her hair was tied up on her neck, forming a ponytail, and leaving two loose strands on her cheeks. It was a fairly loose tie, leaving a bit of volume around her head, unlike Katara’s very tight hair-loopies-plus-braid ties. “And as for clothes, I don’t remember.” She was dressed in a Water Tribe styled sleeveless shirt and a knee long skirt. “Quite likely that it was something similar to these.” She looked at her garments, and then at Katara. “And what did you see?”

“Long loose hair and a long dress.” Katara said, sounding somewhat unenthusiastic.

“Look, I don’t think it matters how mom looked like, because she was sitting here, and the way you described it, she was standing.” Sokka said.

“Y… yes...” Katara muttered.

“Then you couldn’t really see mom. What did you feel when you touched that trunk?”

“Well, the trunk. It was then when I realised that I didn’t see mom.”

“Then it was only mom who could really see you, feel you and hear you.” Sokka said. “On your end it was just an illusion.”

“Yes, but Katara still did see me. And I could feel and hear her at the same time...” Kya said, lost in thought.

“This must have been some freak-out of divine magic and Chi. You know, how the lot of you can now feel someone else’s presence? Maybe that’s what happened here. And on top of that this place is full of divine magic, or whatever it is called. Maybe it amplifies the Chi senses. I bet Whis knows some explanation to this, he knows everything.”

Both Katara and Kya looked at him dumbfounded.

“Sorry mom, you might not know what I am on about. Well, you know, recently we discovered that…”

“I know everything about it, Sokka. About Lord Beerus and Whis. I saw how you met them…” She flinched here a bit, as if recalling an unpleasant memory. “... how they awakened your Chi, most of your lessons with Mr Whis and the training with those weird girls. It’s none of that. I just... I just couldn’t believe that you just explained something with magic.”

“And it makes sense.” Katara chimed in. “Whis really might know something about it.”

“Hey, magic is officially a part of the world now, despite my small inner wish that it was not, so I have to get to understand it now.”

“Heh, you don’t need to be so sceptical about it. It can be quite handy. I got all of my house’s furniture with magic.” Kya smiled.

Sokka and Katara looked at her, confused.

“Wait, you can do magic?” Sokka almost screamed.

“Not really, but ogres can. They help people around with housing. And that includes setting up new planets.” Their mom gestured slightly at the sky.

“Oh, okay…” It would feel weird to Sokka if his mom could cast spells all of a sudden.

“Wait.” Katara looked focused on something else. “You said you saw everything. Does it also include… you know… recently…” she now looked ashamed of herself.

“All of it. I watched you up until the very moment you were about to leave the world and come here.” Her mom said.

Katara looked down on her knees, visibly distraught.

Kya must have noticed that as well. She embraced her a bit tighter and said:

“Honey, do not worry. I am not mad at you.”

Katara looked up on her. It appeared as if she was about to cry, but stopped halfway before the tears appeared.

“You…”

“I know how you must have felt. All of it was too much for you to take in one go. Still…” She stopped for a moment. Her focus suggested that she tried to find the right words. “What you did back there was scary. You were angry and you lashed out, but you know all too well how devastating your anger can be now. I must say… It was the second time I felt your presence. But this time, I wish I didn’t.”

Katara did not say anything. She looked at the verge of tears.

“And if I could feel it from here and be scared of it, that poor lady must have been terrorized. You were angry at her, and she knew it. Again, I am not mad at you that you felt or acted this way, but I think that you should apologise to her.”

“Wait, so you knew that she and dad…” Sokka started to speak.

“I knew. In fact, I know more about her than any of you, including dad. And she is not a bad person. I… perhaps I shouldn't have pried this much in her private affairs, but I was concerned for your dad for the very same reason that you were, Katara.”

“So… she…” Katara uttered with a bit shaky tone.

“She did not try to use your father for political gains. In fact, it was the exact opposite. When the two of them realised that they are in love, the first thing that she demanded of her brother was to put this entire conspiracy on hold. She wanted to go to the North by herself at some point and rediscuss the idea with their elders. And she even knew when would be the best time: when Fire Lord Zuko and Earth King Kuei have commissioned some of their own workforce to aid the reconstruction.”

“Wait, so you are not mad at her, that she, you know, has been hitting on dad?” Sokka asked.

Kya got lost in thought for a moment, and then chuckled.

“I’m dead, Sokka. Maybe it looks like I am alive and well when you two are here, but for all intents and purposes, I do not exist anymore in the ‘mortal’ world. I accepted the idea that your dad will find someone else to live with sooner or later. Just as I got used to the idea that up until this point I could only watch you go on. I should not expect your father to keep living alone with only pain to keep him company.”

Katara was still silent, listening to this. Albeit it still looked as if she was about to cry, she now looked way more stable, as if some determination have grown in her.

“I’m just surprised that you took it so well. I did expect you to be, well, jealous?” Sokka was now confused himself.

“I had eight years to deal with that. And some practice. Malina was not the first girl to ‘hit’ on your dad. And the first time it happened, well, I didn’t take it so well.” She now appeared almost ashamed.

“Wait, so it has happened before? Dad never told us anything...” Sokka spoke.

“You were young, so your dad did not bother you with his emotional dilemmas. And besides, there was not much to talk about. Nothing really ever came out of it.” Kya said.

“Oh…” Sokka muttered. He did not know what to think about it.

“Mom, is Malina still in the South?” Katara asked suddenly.

“She was before you arrived. Let us check…” Kya spoke. She then turned towards the orb.

It nearly instantly turned to an image of a room. Malina herself was wandering around it, holding something in her arms. She threw that thing to her bed, and then moved to grab another thing.

“Wait, is she packing?” Sokka said. He recognised that the things she carried were clothes.

“Oh, no. We need to go back.” Katara said, unnerved. “Mom, you are right. I need to apologise to her. I…”

“It’s alright, if you need to go now, go. I will be here when you get back, I’m not moving anywhere.”

“Wait, already?” Sokka asked. “I wanted to stay a bit longer…”

“We will get back here as soon as we can. Whis said it can be done with Instant Transmission.” Katara spoke. “And I won’t rest until I learn it. And speaking of Whis…” She stood up and looked at the sky. “Mr Whis! We are ready to go back! Please pick us up!”

She then turned back towards their mom. After a second or two, she hugged her. Sokka followed suit.

“Please, be careful out there. And watch out for Azula.” Kya said.

“We will.” Katara said. She teared up a bit again.

“Don’t worry, we have her under control.” Sokka added.

“Do not underestimate her. She already got under your skin back then, with that briefcase. Watch out for what she does and what she says.” Their mom looked stern.

This gave Sokka a pause. This whole mess with Malina, their dad and their mom almost completely torn his attention away from the Fire Nation princess, but now that he thought about it, she did help to escalate things.

He then saw his mom flinch, right after he heard a weird zapping sound behind them. He turned around, but was not really surprised to see Whis standing next to them.

“By the way, dad sends his regards. And he said that he will see you soon.” Sokka said.

“I know, I have seen it. Send him mine, and say to him that I am not mad at him.” Kya responded.

“You mean…” Sokka was confused.

“Just repeat that. He will understand.” She said, smiling.

“Ok, I will.” Sokka said. He then stood up, and started walking towards Whis. “See you mom, take care!”

“See you, Sokka.” Kya responded. Katara was still hugged up to her.

“Come on, don’t keep Mr Whis waiting.” Their mom said to her daughter.

“It’s alright, whenever you are ready.” Whis responded, smiling himself.

Katara stood up, and wiped the tears from her face. She then walked away towards Whis. When she reached him, she smiled at Kya one more time.

“Take care honey. See you soon!” Their mom said.

“Take care! I will miss you!” Katara managed to respond.

“Stay safe...” This was the last what Sokka heard. The image of their mom sitting at a terrace was torn away from them into darkness, which then threw them up back at the South Pole.

 

* * *

 

Katara knew what she needed to do now. The only info she was missing was where.

“Mr Whis, do you know…”

She then paused. She felt all of the little spots of warmth and light, the various Chi of people around her. Her intense focus on Malina brought one of them to her attention. She felt that she knew it from somewhere. She also recognised the feeling itself, as if it had already happened to her.

“Nevermind, I know now. Sokka, I need to go to Malina. I will be back as soon as I can!”

“It’s alright, take your time.” Whis spoke.

Katara nodded. She then immediately turned around and ran into the direction of Malina’s Chi.

 

* * *

 

Sokka watched his sister run forth. There was not much to see, as she moved at a slightly elevated speed and quickly turned into an alley, out of their sight.

He then turned to look at Whis. He was surprised to see a smile of deep satisfaction, as he gazed away in the direction Katara went to.

“What are you so happy about?” Sokka asked.

Whis got startled a bit, almost as if he forgot that someone was near him. He then smiled and said:

“Your sister is making substantial progress. She just detected the person she was after all by herself. And correctly so. She has reached her house by now.”

Sokka paused. Given how vague Chi was to him, that was indeed something.

“Come now. Let us see how your peers are doing. They are repeating their previous exercise.” Whis spoke.

“So they are doing the little Chi orb? Well, let’s hope that the building is still standing.” Sokka chuckled.

“Why would it be in danger? I left Pan and Bulla in charge.” Whis smiled.

“Oh, man, then it really could have gone boom. Let’s go.”

With these words, he started walking.

He did not even notice that he chose the correct direction without really knowing why. Neither he noticed that he felt the presence of Aang and others. If asked whether or not he felt anything, he would answer that he was not sure.

Whis must have noticed both though, as his smile grew even wider. They walked towards the restaurant, the same that Sokka was in before with the others.

 

* * *

 

Katara stood at the door. Now that she has reached her destination, a fear struck her. She was about to face a person that she threatened to kill before. Indirectly, as she did not speak it out loud nor really intend it, but then again, whatever she would do to Malina when enraged and drunk with power would probably kill the poor lady. The fact that she oozed that terrifying dark aura everywhere did not help.

But then again, she had to face her. She could not expect a warm welcome nor forgiveness, but she still had to try.

She knocked on the door.  Initially she felt an urge to just walk in, but after a short consideration, that would probably scare her even more.

“Who is it?” She heard a voice. Fairly quickly. It took a second or two for the waterbender to react.

“It’s me, Katara. We… I need to tell you something.”

A long pause. For a moment Katara thought that there will be no response. She began to walk away, feeling another urge to tear up, but then she heard the voice again.

“Come in.”

Katara’s heart started beating faster. Now she realised she almost hoped to not let be inside.

She placed her hand at the knob and slowly turned it. Well, it was too late now. she had no choice but to walk inside.

When she stared at the room, relatively simple bedroom, she had a bit of a deja vu from her mother’s house. The furniture here was also relatively modern looking, whilst covered in decorations related to both Water Tribes.

Malina was sitting on her bed. Now Katara understood the delay: there were some hastily folded clothes thrown into the bag next to her.

They stared at each other for a few good seconds. Malina’s face suggested worry, perhaps even fear to an extent, but she visibly tried to suppress it. Or hide it, as at some point she looked away from Katara and at her own knees.

Somebody needed to start.

“I… I just wanted to say that… that… I’m sorry.” She stuttered. Upon receiving no reaction, she continued, a bit more strongly. “I know it doesn’t mean much, I know I acted monstrously for no reason…”

“You did not.” Malina interrupted her. Katara did not understand at first in confusion.

“I… did not? What do you…”

“You had a very good reason to be mad at me. I would be as well if the roles were reversed. I hoped I could be friends with you, but I had no delusions: I knew from your father that you loved your mother more than anything and that you would probably not accept me. Still… I did not expect that…”

“I know… I acted like a hysteric maniac…” Katara interrupted her. Only for Malina to stop her again.

“Girl, I am not mad at you. You learned at the same day that your mom could be brought back to live, that your tribe was about to be betrayed and that your father was with another woman who more than likely was using him. I did not expect to have to deal with all of that at the same time, and neither did you.”

Katara looked at her with her eyes wide open. “You… you know that?”

“Your father told me. We explained some things to each other while you were away. Do not worry. He is not mad at me, and neither I am at you. And, for all it’s worth, I’m glad that you don’t hate me either.”

Now Malina managed to lift her head up. Some faint smile managed to appear on her for a moment, but it was quickly put out by overwhelming sadness emanating from her.

“Then why are you packing? Don’t you want to stay with my dad? Did he…?”

“No, it’s not about it. It’s about the people. They want me gone. Me, my brother, and all of our subordinates. They hate all of us, and for a good reason. If Hakoda vouched for me to stay, there is a good chance that his people would turn against him. I would rather not risk something like that happening, not now.”

“But, how… why? We know who was behind it, isn’t it enough?” Katara had a bad feeling that it wasn’t.

“No. Most of the people are convinced that I did exactly what you thought I did. And that Hakoda would be a fool to trust the Northern Water Tribe after we have abandoned you during the war. Only your grandfather Pakku has been spared from accusations, probably mostly due to…”

“Wait, Pakku? My grandfather?” Katara reacted to it a bit more strongly than she normally would.

“You didn’t know? He has been in the South for almost two years. He was the first to propose providing aid to your tribe and, well, he also went on with it without much of a consideration for what the other elders had to say.”

“I know he did that, but why did you call him my…”

“He is married with your grandmother. They have left for Misty Palms Oasis a couple weeks ago or so and wed there in secrecy, only me and your father know. Some spark of good news is always welcome. It probably have spared him being banished as well.”

She stood up and started packing again, walking over to the wardrobe for some more clothes. She then looked at Katara again.

“I wish I could stay. I hope I can perhaps come back at some point. But for now, I need to disappear. From your life, from your father’s life, and most importantly, from the Southern Water Tribe.”

Katara felt on the verge of tears again. Malina also did not look very stable, nor sounded like that when she spoke.

“I’m sorry.” She continued to pack in silence. Katara concluded that she either did not want to talk or did not know what else to say. Either way, Katara felt that she had to leave.

She walked out of the room. Before closing the door, she managed to utter: “Take care.” before closing the door behind her. She waited a bit for a response before doing so, and she heard a murmured “You too.”

Always something. She walked out of the building.

After taking few steps towards her friends’ Chi, she noticed some people stare at her in the distance. She looked at them back, but the moment they noticed that, they flinched and rapidly moved away.

Katara felt an unease. She began to walk again. She noticed a distinct lack of people in the street she was in. After passing by an alley, she noticed someone in there. A small girl and a boy were there, messing around with the snow. Upon noticing her, the girl made a small shout and ran away, while the boy flinched and stared at her for a few seconds, only to follow in his friend’s footsteps.

Katara increased her pace. After passing by a window that rapidly closed when she was near it, she could not hold the tears anymore. She lowered her head and ignored everything around her, wishing only to reach her friends.

 

* * *

 

The entire group was in Hakoda’s office in the town hall. They came over there at the request of Sokka, who wanted to say goodbye to his dad. They found Gilak there as well, discussing the recent events with his chieftain. Both of them noticed the state in which Katara was now, her tears having barely dried out. Hakoda moved over to his daughter and embraced her, while Aang explained the situation.

Meanwhile, Gilak stood to the side, looking at the floor. After hearing the airbender out, he spoke first:

“I’m terribly sorry for sticking my nose in your business so much... If I knew what you kids have been going through, I would have kept my mouth shut…”

“No, Gilak, you were right about the northerners. I still can’t believe it myself that they would do something like this to us…” Hakoda spoke.

Gilak grunted, still staring at the floor. Katara in the meanwhile lifted her head up, and spoke:

“Dad, Malina is not a bad person! She did not want to betray you! Mom told us that she saw her, Whis could show you that, we could prove that she is innocent!”

Hakoda looked at his daughter with sadness.

“I know that, dear. We explained this to each other, and I believe her. The problem is, no one else will. And I can’t blame them for that.” He spoke.

His daughter looked at the verge of tears again.

“Hell, girl, if you provided proof, I would pardon her immediately.” Gilak spoke. “But even if I managed to convince the entire town that she did not conspire with Maliq, they would still be suspicious of her. And they would definitely not accept her at your father’s side, not yet and not so easily at the very least.”

“I will be in contact with her.” Hakoda said. “She promised to help us with negotiations about this whole mess. And if she will manage to convince North’s elders to treat us as equals, the South will be more willing to accept her.”

“That’s quite a big if, Hakoda.” Gilak murmured. “But, well, I hope that you are right.”

He then looked at the rest of the group. “Still, I am at the very least guilty of ruining your reputation down here. I imagine that the people will be scared of you from now on…”

“It was not your fault, Mr Gilak.” Whis spoke. “If anything, we will keep a low profile when visiting this town in the future.”

“Still, you do not deserve to be treated like a group or rabid polar bear dogs. From what I heard, you lot work to keep our world safe using some mystical super powers, or whatever. I will make sure that the townsfolk are aware of this.”

“And so will I. And I will try to explain what happened at the refinery.” Hakoda said.

“Thank you, dad.” Katara said. She smiled at her father, but when she turned away from him, she still appeared very sad. Aang walked over to her and took her arm.

The whole group said short goodbyes to the two men, and then left the building. They walked outside of town. This time around, the group was avoided by everyone. Aang made sure to try and keep Katara surrounded by others, so that she would notice this.

Soon, they boarded the cube and lifted off. And only their departure was followed by a bunch of curious onlookers, gazing at the white illumination swallowing their vehicle and throwing it away into space.

 

* * *

 

Azula sat on a rock, staring into the darkening sky. The weird light that passed for a sun in Beerus’s world was weakening.

The other people present included Sokka, Bulla, Pan and Toph. They were busy trying to teach Sokka how to make a light orb, as well as trying to teach Toph how to catch one using nothing but her sight for spatial reference. Both attempts went rather poorly. Aang and Katara departed earlier to sleep.

She paid some attention to what they did, but she did not really care about them. She kept some distance to them and meditated on everything that has happened that day.

It was not hard to guess that presence of another woman in Hakoda’s life would piss Katara off. It was also easy to guess that they, or at least her brother Maliq, had some nefarious intentions. It was easy enough to turn the tribe against them, especially that this idiot kept all of his important stuff on him and made so much fuss about it.

What she had hoped to achieve was to destabilise Katara in some way. The waterbender girl was her first target, as it was the only person to ever defeat her twice in a real combat. Not only that, but the second time they fought Azula had the power of the Sozin’s Comet at her disposal, while the stupid peasant had only her normal waterbending. She was growing smarter by the day, and now she was among the only few people who could hold Azula back.

Technically, the princess succeeded to an extent. Katara appeared broken and depressed when they returned, a result of her entire tribe giving her the cold shoulder. She also wrecked her father’s love life. The grief of that was bound to keep her from being dangerous for a good while. Now, all Azula needed was some trigger to get Zuko mad at her: and she even knew what it would be. Her old plan about shoving some of the spaceship tech into the wrong hands was still perfectly doable.

However, she could not help but feel irritated at how the group reacted to Katara. The little bitch wailed at Aang, Sokka and Hakoda. She threw the dark aura at them, said all of those horrible things, and all three forgave her almost immediately. Especially her father was weird. How he could forgive her so easily after she threatened to harm his lover? He was sad, from what she saw, but not angry at all, he was the first person to come and try and cheer her up when they came to say goodbye.

Still, she kept cool. Her main goal was to alienate these people from Zuko, so that he would not see them as friends and allies anymore. The very fact that he would aid this primitive tribe for no compensation whatsoever, probably not even a trade deal, was just retarded. And he could be expected to ask for one (Northern Water Tribe overdid it in her opinion, but Maliq had the right idea: something for something). She needed to stop him from making stupid decisions such as this one, and sooner rather than later. Destabilising the group was a long term secondary goal. On top of that, she should not really finish it BEFORE Beerus have been dealt with, as she still needed them to solve that problem.

“I must admit that I am quite impressed with how you handled the situation. Am I correct to assume that you tried to unravel Katara on purpose?”

That was Bulla’s voice. Azula froze. That stupid girl Toph, albeit distracted, could probably still hear them from here.

And Bulla. She was more entertaining companion than the others, the only one to be appreciative of noble blood and courteous life, but she was also quite enigmatic to Azula. She seemed to prefer to stay on good terms with the rest of the group, but on the other hand she took some satisfaction in annoying them. And now, she guessed Azula’s intentions and voiced them in the presence of Toph. Was this an oversight on her part, or was it some deliberate action against her?

“If that was the case and I really did, do you think that I would admit to something like this out loud?” She asked.

“Of course not. Still, it is an interesting ploy. Yet, I do not think that you will succeed in this field.” Bulla smiled.

“How can I succeed in something I am not even aware of?” Azula got angered a bit, but managed to hide it beneath a quiet, almost whispering tone.

“In order to win a war, one must know their enemy and themselves well enough. And you seem to lack knowledge about both your enemies and yourself.” Bulla said smugly.

“Do not presume to speak as if you understood me! You do not know anything about me!” Azula hissed, annoyed.

“Hey, is everything alright in there?” Pan spoke to them from afar.

Azula turned towards her and paused, trying to regain her composure. Bulla spoke first though.

“Everything is fine, we are just discussing princely matters. We need to sort out a certain disagreement.”

“Oh, yeah, cool.” Pan refocused on the rest of the group. Meanwhile, Bulla turned back to Azula.

Again, the Saiyan used their noble common ground to aid her. Right after almost blowing the candles on one of her secrets.

“You are correct, I do not know much about you. But I do see certain patterns in here. And if I am not wrong, you are miscalculating.” Bulla spoke again.

“You are wrong, and I am not miscalculating anything. And if I were you, I would not bother myself with a non-existent issue.” Azula responded. She kept her tone more calm, but she was distraught inside.

“So be it. I shall speak of it no more.” Bulla responded.

With these words, she walked away towards the rest of the group. Azula in the meanwhile kept staring at the clouds, losing herself in her thoughts yet again.

What was the reason she even brought all of that up? And what did she figure out exactly? Did she know that Azula wanted to destabilise the whole group? That was perhaps easy enough to guess, but what if she knew something more? What if she knew about the plan for alienating these idiots from Zuko?

She shivered. Was she sent here by someone? Maybe in truth she was just pretending to be Azula’s friend, in order to spy on her for someone? Who would that be, Whis? Aang? The rest of the idiots? Zuko, Iroh?

She froze. She then had a faintest feeling that she hears something.

“I love you… I always will… You should not do this… Why are you so angry…” The voices, echoing against one another. All spoken by the same person. Her mother. They went silent the last time she saw her. Azula thought that that was enough, that she was finally free of them.

She shivered again. She felt waves of cold and warmth coursing through her. She felt her Chi boiling up. She did not want her aura to pop up of all things right now. She tried to hold it down.

Focusing on her aura managed to calm her down a bit. She still felt herself shivering though. The voices were still there.

She stood up and started walking towards the temple tree. She wanted to hit one of those bathrooms and find the hottest tub there was. Anything to stop that shivering.

Nobody paid attention to her, as she walked. Nobody but Bulla, who gave her quite a long gaze, and then threw a bit more light orbs at Toph and Sokka. Azula did not notice that however, as she looked away from everyone and kept some distance, hoping that they would not notice her shaking.


End file.
